


Ten Years Difference

by stormy1x2



Category: One Piece
Genre: Age Difference, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Love, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-30 13:52:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 49,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5166209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormy1x2/pseuds/stormy1x2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary: It's amazing what difference there would be if there were a ten year age difference between Ace and Luffy. For one thing, how on earth could Ace possibly feel good about himself leaving Foosha Village if his brother had been six-and-a-half instead of the canon fourteen'?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Marco watched carefully as the black-haired teen went down for what had to be the final time. Pops had given him a solid hit but nowhere near his hardest – if what Jinbei was panting about over in the company of the nurses was true, then this kid had been fighting for five days solid – and had won. Jinbei was a Warlord of the Marines – one of the toughest fighters Marco knew, and for this kid to actually eke out a win over him, well, that was something amazing.

Pops meanwhile, had turned to him with a relaxed smile. “I like him,” he said, gur-ra-ra-ra-ing as he did so. “He's far too valuable to lose to something like this, Marco.”

Marco knew what that meant, and nodded. Striding over, he carefully turned the kid over and checked him out. Bruises, cuts, possibly some internal bleeding but the nurses would take care of that, no prob--

“AAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!”

Marco's head shot up. Was that a kid? The flaming wall the teen had put up to protect his crew – and by doing so, had bought him a lot of brownie points with Pops and his own – was still flaring high but he could see something, someone racing back and forth along the other side. A tiny someone – oh no....

“Ace! AAAACCCCCEEE!” came a second cry and then a small body threw itself through the flames, tiny arms up to cover a tear-streaked, snot-covered face. “Ace! ACE!”

Marco gaped in shock as a small boy leaped over the damage wrought by one determined teenager and one equally determined fishman Warlord, ignoring the small flames that seemed to have ignited on his clothing. He reached out automatically to help; without missing a beat, the kid avoided his hand and dove around him.“Hey kid, you're on fi--”

“L-u-f-f-y,” came a pained exhalation from the teenager Marco could have sworn was out for the count. He lifted a shaking head just in time for the child to slide to a stop next to them, angry, black, tear-filled eyes glaring up at Marco. The teenager slowly gripped the child's shirt and a second later, the flames were gone. “N-no....not hu-u-rt?”

“I'm fine, Ace,” the child sobbed into Ace's hair, wrapping his arms around the teenager's head. Marco was thusly ignored. “I'm okay.”

Marco watched, astounded as the young man – who should have been deeply unconscious by now – raised his head to look at him with a pleading expression. Gone was the angry wrath, the determined fire that had propelled him through his five-day match with Jinbei and his subsequent encounter with Whitebeard. All that was left was a begging look that didn't seem right at all on him. “Kid..”

“Do-on't hur-rt.... Lu-u-f-fy?” he breathed out. The child had buried his own head in 'Ace's' hair, sobbing loudly. “Pl-e-ease...”

Marco nodded slowly, still trying to process what he was seeing. He had a feeling if he threatened this child in any way, five-day exhaustion and injuries aside, the teenager would somehow get back on his feet, ready to go again and that just wouldn't be wise – or healthy. “You have my word, yoi,” he said calmly, reaching out one hand to place on top of Ace's. Behind him, he could feel the approving stare of his father, backing up his words. “No one will hurt the kid. He's safe, yoi. I swear it.”

The teen searched his eyes for a moment, and nodded, apparently satisfied with what he saw. Then his entire body went limp as he gave into the wounds plaguing his body. The child went, to put it mildly, bat-shit insane.

“Ace! ACE! Wake up Ace! Please, wake up! Ace! AAACCCCCEE!”

Impulsively, Marco reached out to the child again. “Hey – Luffy, was it? Luffy!”

Still clutching the older teen like a lifeline, the young boy looked over – with a glare that would have guaranteed Marco a place six feet under if looks were able to kill. “What did you do to Ace?” he practically spat out, still clinging to the teen's head. 

“He's alive, yoi,” Marco said in his most soothing voice. “He's just really, really tired right now.”

The child rubbed his cheeks with his arm, still sniffling and breathing hard. His eyes darted from the teenager to Marco's and back again. “He was fighting the fish guy for five days,” he said in a low but undeniably proud voice. “No breaks even.”

“That's impressive, yoi,” Marco commented calmly. He didn't even have to lie about that. The boy had stopped crying and was giving a tiny smile – sort of. It seemed that drawing the child into a dialogue was definitely the best way to calm him down apparently. “Luffy, no one wants to hurt him, I promise. The fight's over. Can I have a nurse come over here and look at the two of you?”

Luffy stared at him for a long moment before nodding slowly. “Why me?” he asked, curiously, obviously still suspicious, but making an effort. “I didn't fight the fish man. Ace never lets me fight. He always makes me hide somewhere so no one can find me.”

Marco had waved at Hannah, one of the older and more experienced nurses but had also signalled at her to approach slowly. “You jumped through the fire wall. I'd like to get you checked for any burns.” He smiled at the boy, trying to appear friendly. “It seems you didn't hide very well today, yoi.”

The child sent him a look that screamed, 'the hell I didn't.' “This is the first time Ace-nii lost,” he stressed. A worried look replaced the sarcastic one as he saw the nurse move closer. “You promise you won't hurt Ace-nii?”

Ah. That made more sense than 'son' – there was an age difference there but not enough of one for that. Marco made a big show of crossing his heart, watching as the little one gave him another tiny smile when he did. “I promise, kiddo. The fight's all done now. This is Hannah - “ He introduced the pink-clad woman who was slowing down as she crossed the final few feet. She waved at the little boy who shyly gave her a tiny wave back. “- and she's gonna check you and your brother.”

The child nodded slowly and let her sink into a crouch right next to older teen. She reached for Luffy first who backed away and shook his head. “Ace-nii first,” he said sternly. She shot Marco a look, then shrugged and reached for his brother. Luffy's black eyes were fixed on her every move as she gently turned Ace over from his side to his back and began checking the wounds inflicted on him by Jinbei and Whitebeard. “He was fighting a long time and he never lets me check him.”

“Is that right, yoi?” Marco smiled at the boy. “Well, I can see some small burns on your hands from when you ran through the fire. Do you think Ace-nii will be happy to see those?”

Luffy immediately stuck his hands behind his back. “Don't tell him!”

“I won't – but only if you let me clean them up. Okay?”

The little boy hmmm'd for a moment before nodding and thrusting his hands in Marco's direction. Reaching into the nurse's first aid kit, Marco pulled out some wet wipes and began to wipe down the small, thankfully superficial burns on the child's hands and arms. Luffy was a surprisingly good patient – though with a brother with those particular powers, it probably wasn't the first time he'd gotten singed. He certainly didn't seem surprised at seeing them, nor at the treatment they needed. The thought made Marco frown, an expression he quickly hid when the boy peered up at him in confusion. 

Hannah was palpating the older boy's stomach carefully. “As near as I can tell, he likely escaped internal injuries,” she said with a sigh of relief. “But three of his ribs are definitely cracked, and I don't like the look of his head wounds, Marco. His skull might be fractured – I felt some strange bumps under his hair. I want him back to the Moby five minutes ago.”

Marco nodded. “Vista went to get the stretcher my Phoenix form can carry. Once you and I get him on it, I'll fly him to the infirmary. Which means, someone needs to watch over the little one.” He motioned with his chin at Luffy who had become bored of their conversation and had pulled away from Marco in order to curl around his brother's head again. 

Angry eyes snapped back up at him, proving he'd still been listening. “I wanna stay with Ace-nii,” he said, rather insistently. “Gotta make sure no one hurts him anymore.”

Marco decided it was a good idea Thatch and Izou were still aboard the Moby Dick. Thatch would be sobbing about brotherly loyalty and Ace's injuries by now – never mind that it was the stubborn fire-user's fault he was in such rough shape to begin with – and Izou would just plain out kidnap Luffy for the sheer adorableness being presented. “I promised you no one would hurt him anymore, didn't I?”

Luffy nodded slowly, eyes darting to Ace's prone form and back to Marco. “Yeah, but...” He was twisting and wringing his little hands in anxiety.

“I know, yoi,” Marco said quietly. “You're still worried. You're a very good brother, Luffy.”

“Ace-nii's better,” came a mumbled reply. 

Marco wondered about that, as a child being a part of the Spade Pirate crew did not actually speak well of the captain to begin with. There was a story there, and it would have to wait until the captain was able to tell his side of it. Movement caught his eye – Vista was swiftly moving over the beach, carrying the specially-rigged backboard that allowed Marco to lift it by himself in his Phoenix form. “Luffy, Hannah and I are going to move Ace in a few minutes. We're going to take him to the infirmary. Do you know what that is?”

The little boy nodded. “S'where the doctor lives,” he chirped. 

Marco grinned, and Hannah let out a small giggle at the adorable answer. “Absolutely right,” he said, patting the child on his head, who giggled himself at the light contact. “So I'm gonna need you to stay with Hannah for a little bit. She'll watch you just until we get Ace checked out and then you can stay with your brother, yoi. I promise. How does that sound?”

“Okay.” The child stared at him again, head tilted cutely to one side, and Marco waited calmly, letting the boy come to whatever decision he had to. After a moment, Luffy nodded again, smiling this time. “You're a good guy.”

“I'm glad to hear it,” Marco replied good-naturedly, intent on humouring the child to keep him in good spirits until his brother could be treated and an actual conversation could be had. 

But Luffy shook his head, still smiling. “I mean, a really good guy. I know you won't hurt me or Ace-nii. I can tell.”

“And how can you tell that?” Marco cast a quick glance over to where Vista and Atmos had finished setting up the specialized back board. Hannah was now guiding them into carefully moving the fire-brat into position to be lifted onto it. “Magic powers?”

“No, silly. I just know.” Luffy caught his gaze and held it this time. Soft brown captured bright blue and Marco felt that somehow, in some way, he was being judged. Then Luffy gave him a cheeky grin. “I can tell. Sometimes.”

Apparently he had passed judgement. Marco blinked at that, staring mutely at the little boy who beamed broadly at him, and then turned to watch his brother being carefully manhandled onto the backboard. That had been... different. Hannah moved over, wrapped an arm around Luffy, and began cheerfully pointing out how careful they were being and how Ace was going to be just fine. She then turned to Marco and raised an eyebrow. “Well? Let's get moving!”

Vista locked the two handles over the backboard into the v-shape point over the centre of the contraption and pulled out the two poles that also locked into into place, making a long, horizontal handle – perfect for strong talons to grip. Hannah was whispering to Luffy to watch Marco to see something really cool, and the little boy's wide eyes were focused on him expectantly. 

Marco winked at him and then shifted into his phoenix form. Normally it was a quick and smooth transformation, but he decided to drag it out a little for the boy, starting by setting himself on fire. Blue and yellow flames spread up along his body, turning into glowing feathers before he disappeared into a ball of white and blue light, reappearing as the immortal phoenix. Spreading his wings wide, he bowed his head at the awestruck little boy, and then gently fluttered into the air. 

He landed gracefully on the extended poles, one talon clutching each one, and with a powerful stroke of his wings, he rose into the sky, carrying the braced backboard with him. Haruta and Jirou had designed this particular litter transport specifically for his zoan form for times when they needed or simply wanted quicker yet stable transport to the infirmary. Whitebeard had even allowed the construction of a side door to be built into the port-side wall of the Moby Dick, leading directly into the back of the infirmary which negated the need for running across the decks and down the stairs into the belly of the ship. 

As he neared the outer infirmary door, it swung open, and he could see the head nurse Whiskey, waiting with a rolling bed on the extended platform. Marco pulled up as he arrived, hovering over the bed and slowly lowered it, letting Whiskey manoeuvre it into place and lock the litter securely on top of it. Once she did, he released the handles, and Whiskey folded them back into their slots, unlocking the stabilizing bars and pushing them back down. Only then could she grip the handle at the foot of the bed and pull the whole contraption inside the infirmary. 

June and July, twin nurses-in-training, had already cleared a secure spot away from any other patients. A good idea, Marco thought as he changed back into human form and helped push the litter/bed into place. Ace was unconscious now, but he had been anything but amiable thus far, and if he woke up in a bad mood – which was likely, considering he'd been beaten into the ground by Whitebeard and subsequently kidnapped by the crew – they didn't want him to have easy access to any potential hostages. Not that that was a huge concern though – Marco looked over the bruises really starting to come to life on the young man's skin, and figured that even disregarding the severity of the head wound, he'd still be out for a couple of days at the very least.

Which meant they were going to have to be responsible for the child that had come along with him. Marco shook his head, still not sure what to think of the situation, and walked back to the door he'd flown in through. He transformed and flew back to the group that was slowly making their way to the Moby Dick. Hannah was holding the hand of trusting little Luffy who seemed to be telling her his entire life story in thirty second spurts of breath.

“--an' then Gramps hitted me again and I landed in the wolf's place at the bottom of the big hill and they were gonna eat me up but Ace arrived and beat 'em all up and took me to Dadan's house and Dadan and Gramps were sleeping and they smelled really bad and there were bottles everywhere and Ace said a really bad word and told me not to say it, and then he said we were goin' to Foosha Village 'cause he couldn't leave me there 'cause Gramps would just make me fight the monkeys again and-- Hi Marco!”

Marco blinked at the snippet of Luffy's life and then looked at Hannah who was smiling in that way that said she was doing so in order to keep the child calm but what she really wanted to do was go and kill something – likely the 'Gramps' in the story she was hearing. “Hi, Luffy. Your big brother is safe in the infirmary with one of our best nurses – besides the lovely Hannah of course,” he made sure to add. Hannah rolled her eyes at him. He squatted down beside the little boy, reaching out automatically to ruffle his hair. Something about the wild, black mess on the kid's head just screamed 'tousle me!' “Wanna fly up there and see for yourself?”

“Fly?” Luffy's eyes grew even wider. “Like when you turned into the big blue birdy?”

“Well, I'll do the changing. But you can ride on my back if you want to, yoi.”

The look on the kid's face said it all.

o0o  
to be continued...  
o0o

I'm enjoying writing this fic. I am a childfree women (haven't changed my mind in over 25 yrs) who nonetheless adores kids and kid!fics (then they are done well and not with random OC's) and I taught kids in China for over 10 years, so despite not possessing a mommy gene, I like to think I have a handle on what they're like. Since I like to challenge myself, here it is – kid!fic. Stormy style. 

All comments and con/crit is welcome. I do two proof-readings on top of the multiple re-reads I do while writing yet I NEVER post without at least one or two mistakes somewhere over here, or a dangling plot thread over there. My goal in ficcing over the years has been 'tighten it!!!' and I'd like to know how it's showing (if at all) to readers. Otherwise, I will not improve. So yeah, I can take con/crit meant in the fashion its supposed to be.

Chapter 2 will be up in a day or so. I'd ideally like chapter 4 done before I do to give myself a buffer.

Stormy


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: Ten Years Difference (2/?)  
> Author: Stormy1x2  
> Word Count (chapter): 2650  
> Notes: Thanks for the reviews! They are all greatly appreciated and inspirational! I don't tend to answer questions in author's notes because I'd rather you read the story and find the answers yourself. If I do respond, it's because the answer won't be in the story in one fashion or another. However, I will say I want to adhere to the canon storyline as best I can, taking their age difference into consideration. You can assume this story takes place ten years prior to the start of the manga and that's the last I'll say on the storyline. If you wish to know more, please continue reading. :)
> 
> Also – one tiny change because I got the timing wrong. Luffy was almost 6 when they first set out and by the time this story takes place, he's 6-and-a-half, closer to turning 7. Being younger and with such an older brother, his antics and thought processes are a bit different because...well, you'll know soon enough why.
> 
> Fic Status:  
> Chapter 3 – 100% complete, on 2nd editing  
> Chapter 4 - 100% finished, on 1st editing  
> Chapter 5 – outline 50% finished.

[center]o0o  
Chapter 2  
o0o[/center]

 

Luffy liked being on the big whale ship. He knew that he should still be careful – the man who was the captain (and was really really big too, like a giant!) had hurt his brother and that was after Ace had already been hurt by the fishy guy. Luffy had wanted to hit the big man for hurting Ace but then the giant man had apologized and reminded Luffy that Ace had attacked him first and well, that was true. 

Luffy sat up, yawning, from where he'd laid curled up by Ace's side. Bluebird had offered him a room to stay in, close to the infirmary, but he didn't want to sleep alone. Besides, Ace was still hurt, so Luffy had to stay by Ace to protect him and be there when he woke up, like he was there when Luffy woke up after Grampa or the monkeys hit him until he fell asleep. Besides, Ace was always nice and warm because he was made of fire, and Luffy liked to snuggle. Ace always said big boys don't snuggle, but he never pushed Luffy away, and so Luffy was pretty sure that meant Ace liked snuggling too. 

“Good morning, Luffy!”

Luffy blinked at the pretty nurse-lady. Bluebird had said her name was Whiskey, but that was what one of the bottles Gramps liked to drink was called, and so he just called her 'nurse-lady'. She didn't seem to mind. “G'morning, nurse-lady!”

She smiled at him as she moved up alongside Ace's bed to check him. She did it every morning, after lunch, after dinner and then one more time before bed. Luffy liked that she was checking Ace so much. It meant she cared about him getting better. Luffy knew that Ace believed no one cared about him except Luffy and his crew, but the crew was gone now (Luffy was afraid to ask – he was starting to like these people and he didn't want to make them angry and thinking about the Spades reminded him of what he left behind and that really would make him cry and he knew how Ace felt about cry-babies) and so it was good that someone else was helping to take care of his older brother. Ace was an amazing person and Luffy never truly understood why so many people wanted to hate him just because of who his dad was (but that was the biggest secret of all the secrets and Luffy would never tell anyone, he'd crossed his heart and everything). “After I check your brother, do you want to come with me for breakfast?”

They always asked but Luffy was afraid to leave Ace. It was four days now since the fight, and he was still sleeping! He must be really hurt, and so Luffy would always shake his head and say thank you for the invitation but no thank you, just like Makino had taught him and Ace. Someone would always bring him food later, even if it wasn't enough, but he didn't want to be a bother. If he was a bother, they might make him and Ace leave and Ace couldn't take care of himself right now. “I wanna stay here.”

“Sorry, kiddo,” came a voice from the door. 

Luffy looked up and saw his bluebird friend. “Bluebird!”

Nurse-lady giggled, but Bluebird just shrugged and gave Luffy a look that Luffy knew it meant he was about to give up. “You do know my name is Marco, right?”

Luffy frowned. “But you're a big blue bird, right?”

“Only some of the time.” Bluebird – Marco – came to Ace's bed and looked at Luffy's brother. “How's he doing today?”

Nurse-lady smiled and pulled the blanket back up on Ace's chest, tucking it in along the side of the bed. “His bruises are almost gone – he seems to be a very fast healer. The skull fracture is taking a little longer--” she gently touched the white bandages wrapped around Ace's head. “--but there's no swelling around his brain at all. I'd say give it a few more days and we'll see him start to become a bit more aware.”

Bluebird nodded, still staring at Ace. “That's good to hear.”

Luffy tilted his head to the side. “Why did Bluebird say 'sorry'?”

“Hmm?” Bluebird blinked and turned to face Luffy. “Oh, right. Well, I've heard complaints about you, little one.” He smiled and Luffy was confused. Didn't complaints make people mad? But Bluebird was smiling at him. “It seems people have been hearing your stomach roaring like a lion, which means you're not getting enough food. So Thatch told me to tell you that you are under orders to come to the galley for breakfast so he can see just how much food it will take to calm the beast.”

Luffy giggled. Adults were so silly sometimes. “There's no lion in my tummy!”

Bluebird shrugged and held out his hand. Luffy looked at it, and then looked back at Ace with worried eyes. Nurse-lady reached out and messed up his hair. He giggled – it always tickled when people did that. “Go for breakfast, Luffy,” she said, sitting down on the bed next to Ace's. She gave him a soft smile, the kind Makino always gave them. It made Luffy's tummy feel warm. “I'll sit right here and watch him until you get back, okay?”

Luffy bit his lip. He really wanted to go and have a real breakfast – a big breakfast, so he'd stop feeling so hungry. And nurse-lady had been really nice all this time. “You won't leave?”

The nurse-lady crossed her heart. “Promise.”

Luffy nodded. Heart-crossings were serious business. “Okay. I'll trust you.” He leaned over to look his brother in the face. “I'm just going for breakfast, Ace-nii. I'll be back soon.” He wrapped his arms around Ace's arm, snuggling close for a second – and then sat up, jumping off the bed and looking up at Bluebird. “'Kay, I'm ready.”

Bluebird had a weird look on his face, but then he smiled and held out his hand. “C'mon, little lion. Let's go see how much food it takes to fill you up.”

Luffy laughed as he took Bluebird's hand. “Lots and lots,” he said. “Let's go, let's go!”

The whale ship was even bigger than Luffy thought. Bluebird led him down halls and up stairs to the main deck and Luffy stopped in shock at how much of a main deck there was. “Whoa,” he murmured, ignoring all the curious looks he was getting from some of the people on deck. “You could put the whole Spade ship on the deck here!”

A chuckle came from behind and Luffy turned his head to see a very pretty lady walking up to them. “It's that big, huh?”

Ooops – not a lady. A man that looked like a lady. Luffy blinked, and then blinked again. Ah. “It's like Dadan!” he said cheerfully. A backwards Dadan. Dadan was a lady who looked like a man. This was a man that looked like a lady. Mystery solved! Luffy cheered for himself – it wasn't often that he solved mysteries all by himself. Ace usually had to step in and help him. “What's your name?”

The man-lady was staring at him, looking surprised and confused. “I'm Izou. What's your name, little one?”

“I'm Luffy!” he said cheerfully, throwing his hands up. “You're pretty! You're almost as pretty as Makino and she's really a girl but you just look like one and that's amazing!”

Izou still looked surprised, but he was starting to smile. “Thank you.” He reached out and Luffy automatically leaned forward, letting the man-lady ruffle his hair, wiggling at the touch. “So, you like the Moby Dick, Luffy?”

“Yeah!” Luffy stretched his arms out – and only remembered at the last minute to keep from going beyond what was a normal limit. Ace always told him not to tell anyone about his special ability until Ace said it was all right. Ace had repeated that one rule like a million times to make sure Luffy wouldn't forget, and Luffy just bet Ace would be really proud of him when he woke up. “It's way way waaaaaaaay bigger than the Mystic!” Which reminded him about the Spade pirates and that they weren't there and neither was his special 'thing'. Luffy lowered his arms and stared at the deck.

Where were they? Did they abandon him and Ace? Did they take his 'thing' and run away? Ace was always afraid people wouldn't like him or stay with him, and it had taken a long time for him to trust the people he allowed to stay on his ship with him and Luffy. Luffy loved all the members of their crew. He didn't think they would just leave them. But that meant they hadn't come with the Whitebeard pirates – that's what Bluebird had told them they were – and maybe that meant the Whitebeard pirates had done something...

“What's wrong, Luffy?” Bluebird was suddenly crouching in front of him, one hand gently resting on his shoulder. “Do you want to go back to Ace?”

Luffy shook his head and bit his lip, trying to keep the tears from filling his eyeballs, because once they got full they'd fall, and that would make him a crybaby and Ace was always telling him not to be one. “N-no...”

Suddenly Bluebird was standing up, and Luffy was up in the air with him, sitting on Bluebird's hip. Blubird was stroking his hair and it felt so nice and he didn't want him or any of the pirates to be mean to the Spade pirates because he liked them both. He knew his eyeballs had filled up, because he could feel water running down his cheeks, and he buried his face into Bluebirds shoulder, trying to hide and dry his face at the same time. Luffy could hear Bluebird calling his name, sounding worried, and Izou was asking if he should go and get the nurse, but nurse-lady had to watch Ace which that meant Luffy had to stop being a crybaby and just ask.

He pushed himself up so he wasn't face first into Bluebird's shirt, rubbed his arm over his eyes roughly to stop the tears and looked straight at Bluebird, as serious as he could. He was a pirate too and he should act like one. “What did you do to the Spades?”

“What?” That was Izou. He sounded confused. Like he didn't even know the name of the pirates he'd probably helped beat up.

Luffy could feel the tears wanting to come back. “The Spades,” he repeated, choking a little on the name. “Big Doc who took care of everyone. Laurel helped Eddie cook and she'd sneak me extra pieces of meat!” Stupid tears were falling again, and his nose was running but he ignored it as much as he could. “Tyger and Spook who were really smart and really good fighters! And Du-Dusty--” A sob tore free at the thought of Ace's First Mate who had been pretty much the best friend Luffy had ever had besides Ace and Shanks. “He played with me and yelled at Ace and made sure we never got lost an-an-an--”

“Whoa, calm down little guy,” Bluebird said loudly, and he bounced Luffy in his arms, rubbing his back. Luffy bit down on a howl and buried his head in Bluebird's shoulder again. “Did you think we hurt them?”

Luffy shrugged, and lifted his head to stare at Bluebird. “Our boat is gone,” he said softly. “An' if they were here on Moby, they'd be with me and Ace. Dusty always said he'd take care of me when Ace couldn't and now Ace can't and Dusty's not he-e-e-r-r-e--” he buried his wail back into Bluebird's shoulder which was soaking wet by now, but Luffy didn't care. It wasn't just the Spades and the Mystic he was worried about. He had thrown his special 'thing' at Dusty before he'd run through the fire, not wanting it to burn and he knew if Dusty had seen him, he would have picked it up. Right?

“Oh, you poor thing,” said Izou, and Luffy felt his face being tilted by gentle hands and Izou was there, wiping his face with a soft cloth. “Luffy, I am very sorry this idiot never told you what was happening.” Luffy looked at him warily but hoping, sniffling loudly. “The Spade Pirates did indeed come after you and Ace. They were both furious and terrified, and even after being beaten, they refused to stay away and kept following. Oyaji had our thirteenth and fourteenth divisions take them to our third ship to get treatment for their injuries.” Luffy's eyes opened wider and wider. “They're all okay, and they keep asking the commanders to call over on the Den Den Mushi to see how you and your brother are doing.”

“R-really?” Luffy blinked and gasped as he took this in, and then he laughed as Izou whapped Bluebird in the shoulder again and again. Bluebird was yelping and cringing, but he never let go of Luffy.

“How could you not tell him anything about his crew?” Whap, whap, whap! 

“He didn't ask!” Bluebird yelped. “And I didn't want to bring anything up when his brother wasn't awake to reassure him!”

Luffy thought that just made Izou look even madder. “So you let him think he was alone instead?” Whap!

“I'm sorry!” Bluebird made a break for it, and Luffy couldn't help but giggle as they went scrambling across the deck, Izou in hot pursuit of them both. “I am very, very, very sorry! You have no idea how sorry I am!”

Luffy giggled again when Izou stopped and straightened out his kimono. “Neanderthal,” he said, and Bluebird glared at him.

“That's what you call Thatch!” He was pouting too. Luffy tried to muffle a third giggle but didn't do it very well. Bluebird sent him a look of betrayal. Luffy knew what that looked like because he saw it on Ace's face every time Luffy sided with Dusty. Sometimes Luffy didn't even want to side with Dusty but did it just to see the funny look on Ace's face.

“If the shoe fits.” Izou shook his head, grumbling, and Luffy let out an actual laugh this time – he looked like Ace when Ace was fed up with something stupid. Izou smiled up at him. “How about we take you for a nice big breakfast, and then after, we can call the other ship and let you talk to – who was it? Ace's First Mate?”

“Dusty,” Luffy said shyly.

“Yes, of course. You can talk to Dusty and hear for yourself that everyone is okay before we take you back to Ace. Does that sound okay to you?”

“Yeah!” Cheered up, Luffy threw his hands in the air. He could talk to his crew and he could ask Dusty about the 'thing'. Ace always told him to refer to his beloved possessions as 'things' because if someone heard you say how much you loved something, they would try and find a way to steal it. He didn't think Bluebird or nurse-lady would, but he had to wait until Ace woke up to be sure. “Thank you, Izou.”

“You are certainly welcome, little one. Now--” he glared at Bluebird who went stiff under his gaze, and Luffy giggled again. “--to the galley. Mush!”

“I'm not a dog,” Bluebird complained, but he started walking, flinching each time Izou's finger poked him in the back. Luffy felt much better. As a result thereof, his stomach let out a roar, and Bluebird froze, looking at Luffy, then his tummy, then his face again. “Are you sure there's no lion in there?”

“No lions in my tummy,” Luffy said. Then he wrinkled his nose. “But Ace-nii once said there might be a bear.”

“Then we'd better hurry before all the food is gone,” said Bluebird and Luffy laughed as suddenly they were running down the stairs, leaving Izou behind to yell at them to slow down before they ran someone over. “Lions are one thing, but I don't want to have to fight a bear, yoi.”

o0o  
to be continued...  
o0o

While I certainly can understand why everyone calls Marco 'pineapple', I've read so many fics where this is done that it's a little overdone in my head. The biggest impression made on 6 year old Luffy was Marco turning into a big blue bird – that he got to ride, the lucky little idiot – and so we have a change in nicknames. 

Also regarding the use of Oyaji – it's a name, like my friends might say 'Grandma' and I was raised to say 'Memere' even though I personally don't speak a word of French. Some say Father, some say Pops, and some say Oyaji. I might have other names thrown in, if I can figure out what parents are called in other languages. I like the idea of Vista having a French background (though what that would work out to in terms of OP geography, I have NO idea. North Blue?) and saying 'Pepere'. :)

As always, I look forward to comments and con/crit. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Ten Years Difference (3/?)  
> Author: Stormy1x2  
> Word Count (chapter): 3600  
> Notes: The response this fic is getting is amazing and I am just so worked-up and inspired when I check my email and see someone else reviewing it and telling me what they liked about it. I love fluff, so I guess it's a good thing that OP fans seem to share this character trait with me. :)
> 
> Additional: someone brought up the point (thank you again!) that Marco may have sounded a little OOC in the previous chapter. I know we all interpret characters our own way so I thought I'd put my reasoning for his behaviour: in the anime, in the episodes where we see him interacting with Ace and the crew, he seems to be a very laid back and playful kind of guy (serious guys don't shove lamb legs down other people's throats!). And Luffy, as we all know, has the mysterious ability of bringing lightheartedness out of just about anyone. Not to mention he's a scared 6 year old to boot, who needs to be treated a bit more gently and playfully than your average pirate. Izou's whapping was meant to be portrayed as playful, with Marco 'pretending' to run in fear, but I probably could have done better to explain it or show it off. I will work on this.
> 
> Sooooo...if anyone else feels Marco is OOC after reading this, well, I apologize and will defend myself with my laminated copy of my artistic licence. :) I did however go over this chapter with a fine-toothed comb in an effort to tone him down back into the leader he is. 
> 
> ....and that interpretation is shot to hell in chapter 4, but hey, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. ^__^
> 
> To guest :3 re: Marco - *pokes lightly and grins* Read chapters 1 and 2 again. You'll spot it. I just refuse to put it at the end of every sentence.
> 
> Fic Status:  
> Chapter 4 – 100% complete, on 2nd editing  
> Chapter 5 – 10% finished (Halp! Need encouragement to work on it!!!)  
> Chapter 6 – um....

o0o  
Chapter 3  
o0o

Marco watched with a small smile as Luffy happily chittered away on the Den Den Mushi. He had insisted on speaking to each and every member of the Spade pirates – who had, upon hearing who it was that wanted to speak to them – charged into the communications room of the Moby Three, all but throwing the navigators out so they could all fit, and kept stealing the Den Den Mushi from each other to speak to the little one who hadn't stopped giggling since the First Mate – Dusty – had demanded to know well they were taking care of both their captain and their little Spitfire. 

Spitfire, the little brother of Firefist Ace. Marco liked it. He settled back against the wall, aiming to get comfortable. He wasn't about to put a time limit on this particular call, seeing as both child and crew obviously needed it very much and besides, they had two other DDM's just in case. He had to admit, hearing the fierce worry from the First Mate about his captain and his captain's little brother had calmed him down a bit – this crew obviously cared very much about the child, and so the uncharitable thoughts he'd been having concerning the Spade Captain began to cease, somewhat. He still had every intention of questioning Ace, however. 

Speaking of the child, Luffy was still covered in the remains of breakfast – an event that had shocked the hell out of Marco and Izou, and had excited Thatch and the rest of the commanders. It had been a while since someone had challenged Thatch's ability to fully feed and satisfy everyone on board and as soon as the first tray of scrambled eggs, slices of bacon, sausages and two apples had disappeared in record time, Marco and half the people in the galley had their jaws drop in astonishment when the little boy had carefully clambered over the bench, brought the tray back to Thatch and had politely requested seconds. 

Thatch had then piled on a half-dozen fluffy pancakes loaded with butter and maple syrup, four pieces of jam-covered toast, two oranges and a bowl of oatmeal topped with brown sugar and raisins. This too had disappeared within ten minutes, and Marco almost had a heart attack when the boy asked for thirds. That was when the betting began.

The boy had finally deemed himself full after the fifth tray, and Izou collected his money, having bet he would stop on five, and Jozu being absolutely positive the brat would finish on the fourth. Haruta and Jirou had collectively bet on the third tray and had been as thunderstruck as Marco when the child finished the heaping pile of fruit-filled crepes paired with another huge mixing bowl full of cereal and asked for more. 

“Is this how you eat at every meal?” Marco couldn't help but ask. 

The kid shrugged. “Kinda. Sometimes. But I was really hungry after barely eating for four days, and missing all my snack times.”

That had hit Marco – and Thatch – hard. Marco had had no idea that by bringing him what they considered to be 'kid-sized' portions, they had been slowly starving this child who apparently had the collective metabolism of a thousand wired ferrets. Thatch had then starting questioning the kid about 'these snack times of yours' and was even now sitting outside the communications room for a chance to talk to the Spade cook and doctor in order to make sure the kid was eating the right amount. How the kid could eat so much was a mystery, but Marco had no intention of letting a child starve under his watch. Pops had agreed with him there. 

“No, Ace is still sleepin'.” Luffy's voice cut through Marco's thoughts and he look up to see a worried look on the kid's face. “He's got bandages around his head, but the nurse-lady said his brain was okay.”

A deep voice boomed out of the Den Den Mushi. “Can you please ask the 'nurse-lady' to call me here when she has time, Spitfire? I want to hear the details about the Captain.”

Luffy nodded, apparently forgetting they couldn't see him. “Okay, Biggie. I will.”

There was a scrambled noise, a muffled yelp, and then a new voice came across the DDM. “Are they feeding you enough, Lu-lu? Are you getting your snacks?”

Luffy looked at Marco with a guilty expression. “I forgot to tell them about my snacks,” he said in a low voice. Then he brightened. “But I had a huge breakfast today, with pancakes and eggs and toast and cereal and oatmeal and crepes and lots of fruit!”

“That's good, Lu-lu,” said the voice. “Remember to have lots of fruits and veggies as your snacks, okay? And ask the chef to call me too when he has time--”

“I'm right here!” Thatch called out, coming in to the room at the change of topic and now moving next to the DDM, tousling Luffy's hair affectionately as he did so. “I wanted to call anyway, to make sure the kid gets enough nutrients. What can you tell me, aside from the fact that he's a black hole on legs?”

There was a laugh. “You're Thatch, right? I'm Eddie. Me and my sister Laurel were the cooks on the Spade ship. You could not be more right about the 'black hole' comment. Though I should warn you – when Ace wakes up, there will be two black holes.”

“Holy shit,” blurted out Marco. There were two of them? Well, they were brothers... Then he realized what he'd said and his eyes shot down to Luffy's wide, innocent ones. He slammed a hand over his mouth, and then let it drop down again, closing his eyes in dismay. “Don't say that, yoi.”

“Oooh, yeah,” said Eddie with a whistle over the DDM. “Don't let your brother know you learned new bad words and phrases from anyone over there, Lulu. You remember what your brother did to Spook the first time you said 'god damn it' when you lost at playing cards? He was stuck in the rigging all day before we figured out how to untangle those mystery knots.”

Luffy laughed with glee. Meanwhile, Thatch was still laughing at him before finally straightening himself and grinning into the DDM. “Chef's honor, everyone's behaving themselves, I promise. So anyway, how did you manage to keep these two fed without starving the rest of your crew?”

“High-calorie meals,” came the prompt reply. “And a steady stream of snacks being constantly available. The key is to not let either of them actually get to the point where they are truly feeling hungry. I kept barrels of breads, fruits and veggies with thick dips, spreads and creams available for them to snack on whenever they liked, and made high-calorie dinners for them while Laurel cooked regular versions of the meals for the rest of the crew. These two do not gain weight like the rest of us normal humans do. They burn it off insanely quickly.”

“Wow. So, lots of sugar and rich cream in the coffee? Honey-based spreads on fat-filled breads and meats?” Thatch asked.

“For a start,” Eddie said approvingly. “I made a lot of protein shakes and added protein powder to a lot of their dishes as well – it helped fill them up faster than just eating a lot of lighter foods. With Ace, it seemed to keep him full longer too – he didn't snack nearly as often as Luffy.”

The two of them continued to chat about food and caloric intake and Marco tuned out to focus on Luffy who was leaning against the table, staring at the DDM with undisguised relief and happiness. Whatever Marco may have thought about Ace taking a child to the Grand Line, he couldn't deny the fact that the crew had utterly adored their captain and his six-year-old bundle of light and joy. They were determined to keep them happy and healthy, if the regimen Eddie was making Thatch write down was any indication.

Then the DDM was apparently stolen on the other end because Eddie was cut off in mid-sentence and a booming voice snapped out. “Spitfire, how're they treatin' you? And don't you lie to me, kiddo. You know I can smell a lie a mile away.”

“Dusty!” Luffy cheered and scrambled for the DDM, practically crawling up Thatch's leg like a baby spider-monkey and yanking the snail right out of the cook's hands. “I'm good, Dusty! How are you?”

“I'd be better if I were there with you,” came the sullen response, and the DDM glared at the child. “I suppose you haven't been trainin' much, if they haven't bothered to feed you properly.”

“Hey--” Thatch started to complain but Luffy put a tiny hand to Thatch's mouth.

“I didn't tell them nothing, Dusty, so they didn't know. I had the biggest breakfast in the world today to make up for it. I miss you though.” He pouted at the DDM.

“I'm sorry, kiddo.” There was a pause. “I told you I'd take care of you when your brother couldn't but I was no match for the commanders of these ships. I broke our promise.” Marco could feel the self-loathing in the man's blunt voice, and his esteem of him went up a little.

“Not your fault!” Luffy stood up on Thatch's lap and the commander wheezed as his tiny foot accidentally went somewhere feet were not normally meant to go. “Not anyone's fault! I'm just happy you're all okay.” He then remembered something and leaned forward to the DDM, not realizing stage whispering did not prevent people from hearing him. “Do you have my 'thing'? Did you find it?”

“'Course I have it,” came a brusque reply. “I saw you throw it just before you ran into a wall of freakin' fire – which reminds me, I'm gonna paddle your behind if I ever see you do somethin' so stupid ever again.”

“I had to get to Ace,” the little one said simply, not looking a bit worried at the threat. “But thank you for getting it. I want it back.”

“S'not my call to make, kiddo.”

“We'll arrange for a visit soon, yoi,” Marco suddenly decided to throw in. He moved closer to the DDM and Luffy held it out to him. “We're still being very careful with your captain because of his head injury, but he's healing well according to the nurses. I'll talk to Pops about it and see about bringing the Moby Three over soon so you can visit. It usually takes a day or two to coordinate – we can't have the ships travel together for long, it makes the Marines nervous, yoi.” He lifted an eyebrow at Luffy. “Once we do, you can bring the 'thing', whatever it is, to Luffy.”

There was another pause and then the gruff voice spoke again. This time, however, Marco could plainly hear the gratitude hidden in his tone. “We would greatly appreciate that, Commander Marco. Thank you.”

Marco paused, and then looked at Thatch. “Can you take the kid to go get one of his snacks? I need to speak to Dusty for a moment about some boring adult stuff.”

Thatch caught on instantly, as did Dusty apparently – the DDM's mouth flattened into a thin line, bugged out eyes staring suspiciously at the Commander. Luffy's eyes widened at the word 'snack'. “Food!” he chirped, as though he hadn't eaten almost twice his weight in breakfast over an hour ago. “Let's go, Thatch!” He turned to look at the DDM one more time. “I'll be back to say goodbye, so don't hang up,” he said sternly, and the DDM's face softened.

“No problem, kid.”

Luffy whirled around and lunged at Thatch, snatching his hand with the speed of a striking cobra, and began to haul the cook out of the communications room at high speed, yelling something about apples as he did so. Marco waited until they were gone, before turning a cool stare on the DDM. “So...any idea of what I want to talk about?”

First Mate Dusty of the Spade Pirates made the DDM's eyes roll. “I'm assumin' you wannna know why there's a six-and-a-half-year-old on a pirate ship on the Grand Line in the New World,” he drawled. 

Marco leaned over the DDM, glaring it down. “Enlighten me, yoi.”

“Not my story to tell.” If the DDM had shoulders with which to shrug, it would definitely be shrugging. “I suggest you wait for the captain to wake up.”

“You seem like a sensible person,” Marco growled. “At the very least, why would you agree to go with a man who was dragging a six-and-a-half-year-old on to the Grand Line?”

There was a pause, and then a gusty sigh rattled over the DDM. “...Because he obviously adored the kid to bits? Hell, he threatened to dismember me and set all my parts on fire if I even thought about lookin' at the kid funny.”

Marco blinked. That was not the usual reason a person pledged their allegiance to someone, and he said as much to the First Mate who laughed. 

“Lemme tell you, you should'a seen it,” Dusty said with a low chuckle. “There's this crazy man whooping' with laughter as he pulled this small ship – that should have taken five or six people to pull, mind you – along the shallow water at the beach, and then this tiny kid, laughin' even louder, leaps from the front and cannonballs into the guy like he'd been fired from a Marine ship. When the dust and sand settled, they were already marchin' off into the forest, the kid sayin' somethin' about 'huntin'' and 'lunch'.” He laughed again. “Well, I figure'd these two idiots didn't realize that the jungle they were marchin' into was famous for having bigger-than-your-average predators in it, and so like the dumbass I am, I rushed after 'em to save their lives – only to see the guy standin' there, barkin' corrections to this little guy who was beatin' the holy hell out of a crocodile the size'a one your paddle boats.”

Marco tried picturing that. It didn't look good in his head. He realized it would probably look worse in real life. “Luffy? Little, tiny Luffy?”

The chuckling stopped. “Well, apparently they were used to it. Ace-Senchou mentioned the animals were almost as big as the ones on their home island. Anyway, the kid was trainin' against them and the rule was, he got to eat whatever he beat.”

Marco couldn't stop a small chuckle of his own escaping. After witnessing the child's appetite at breakfast, he had no problems in believing this. 

“Then he stumbled. Ace-Senchou went to save him but this giant lion came out of the bushes. At the time, I didn't know Ace-Senchou could take on the both of them, no prob. No, I thought they were in trouble so I hauled my stupid-ass into the fray and took on the lion from Hell. He scratched me up good 'n proper and I passed out. When I came to, I was bein' bandaged by Ace-Senchou who was cussin' me out in whispers – didn't want the kid hearing – about how stupid I was and how they didn't need the help and that if I was gonna jump in, make sure I could handle what I was jumpin' into!”

“Pretty good advice, yoi,” Marco commented. His head was whirling with the new information.

Dusty snorted, which was really odd to see on a Den Den Mushi. “Oh yeah, he really tore into me, and when he took a breath, I tore him one right back about what it looked like to see a grown-ass man standin' by while a little kid fights a croc that could swallow the both of them whole. He yelled back it was trainin' and that Luffy couldn't be beaten by a croc, and that was when Luffy – who was still fightin', mind you - got tossed into the air and was slurped down into that croc's belly, slick as sin.”

Marco was fairly certain his heart stopped, for just a minute.

The DDM laughed. “The look on Ace-Senchou's face was priceless. He sighed and said, 'Not again' and pulled out that dagger he keeps on his belt and in three seconds, no lie, the croc was carved open, Luffy was out whinin' about the smell of croc guts, and Ace already had a chunk rigged up to cook over a fire that apparently appeared out of nowhere. He then dragged me over and told me to watch the meat while he got the kid cleaned up, and I listened to him verbally lambast the kid up one side and down the other for gettin' eaten – and the kid just gave it right back to him; and the whole time, Ace was handlin' him so gently you'd think the kid was made of spider webs and mornin' dew. They bickered the entire time they were gettin' cleaned up, right up to when I said the meat was done and then Ace hands the entire fifty pound chunk over to the brat who's suddenly all smiles, and tells him to have it while he carved up some more.” There was a smile on the DDM now. “Those two were somethin' to watch, and they wasted no time in bringin' me into it. Apparently trying to save them from a lion, while very, very dumb in their eyes, was also very heroic in the eyes of the kid and he said he liked me. That was all it took for Ace-Senchou to start checkin' my bandages, handin' over some of the croc meat and lecturin' me once again on the stupidity of interruptin' someone's trainin' like that.”

“So that's how you joined?”

“Not quite. Ace-Senchou carried me on his back to the village and was very displeased to see there was no one there to help get me around until my injuries healed. So he told me flat-out he needed a baby-sitter for the brat – I will note that said brat argued quite vociferously, lemme tell ya – and tossed my ass onto their ship along with a bag of just about everythin' he could find in my house that seemed worth bringin' aboard. He told me to look through it and tell me if he missed anythin'. I asked him to go and get a picture frame from the spare bedroom – the only picture I had left of my sister. He got real quiet, nodded, and left. Luffy took the time to introduce himself to me properly and said Ace would do anythin' for family, even mine.” The DDM snorted again. “Actually, it didn't really matter who's.”

That raised his opinion of the Spade Captain even higher, in Marco's world view. “So you became Luffy's babysitter?”

The DDM roared with laughter, from both Dusty and the rest of the crew that was apparently huddled around him still. “Are you kiddin'? I babysit both of them, and don't you forget it.” He snorted. “With Ace's navigational know-how, he'd'a missed Reverse Mountain entirely and sailed directly into the Calm Belt.” There was a corresponding hail of agreements and cheers from the peanut gallery with him. “He can be a grade-A idiot sometimes, but I'd follow Ace-Senchou to Hell and back and not just because of what he did for me. In the past year I've seen that kid sacrifice himself for his brother and our crew, just to keep us safe. He's helped people that others simply walked on by, or stepped on them even more. Ace-Senchou is a good kid, and if you or any of the Whitebeard Pirates hurt him, not only will you have to deal with the Spitfire, you'll have to deal with us.” His tone went flat. “Yeah, you're stronger. But we're patient. And if ever a time comes that we have to avenge Ace-Senchou or that stubborn little imp he calls brother, I promise you now, you will never be able to trust any of us again 'cause it will only take once.”

Marco actually felt a chill go down his spine at those words. At the same time, he didn't feel overtly threatened. Could be because hearing that loyalty spoke volumes about Ace and his crew. Or it could be mainly because he had no intention of hurting anyone, and therefore, all would be well. He wasn't the First Mate for nothing. He didn't need to puff up and dismiss the threat Dusty was making, nor did he have to dwell on it. He would keep peace amongst the crew – that was his job. “I have no intention of hurting either of them.”

“I know,” came the quick reply. “The kid likes you guys, and trust me, Luffy's intuition is somethin' you learn to listen to real quick. Just...” A brief pause. “...just take care of 'em. Okay?”

Marco smiled at the DDM. The devotion to his captain and Luffy was almost tangible. This he had no problem in promising. “No problem,” he said calmly. “I promise, they'll both be taken care of, yoi. We have the best nurse in the world in charge of Ace's care, and I suspect Luffy will soon be spoiled by the entire crew. He's a charmer, that one.”

“When he wants to be, yeah,” Dusty chuckled. “But wait until you see his temper. Ace has got nothin' on the little spitfire when he's riled up.”

Marco felt another chill go down his spine. “...Really?”

 

o0o  
to be continued...  
o0o

And so ends chapter three. Dusty is the Spade with the cowboy hat who always seems to be up front, just behind Ace whenever I see him. He's also the one that we saw yelling at Ace in the anime just after Ace raised his flame wall. To me, he's a drawling southern guy from South Blue who wound up in East Blue somehow, living by himself. Ace knows why, but Ace won't tell, so who knows if the Whitebeards will find out. :) I kinda picture his voice sounding like Two-Bit Mathews from the movie (based on the book) The Outsiders, only about 10 years older and mixed with a dash of Bill Cosby from his standup routines in the 70's.

That made sense. Shut up – it DID.

I am enjoying fleshing out the Spade pirates and I hope you are too. You'll meet another one in detail next chapter. 

Note: There are no females in any of the official Spade pictures or screen-caps. I 'made' Laurel because Ace's crew is like most others: filled to the brim with testosterone and I wanted at least one female there. So she's the sister of the dude in the Spade photograph and looks exactly like him except her hair is on her head instead of her chin and she's more slender than her potbellied brother. I named her after a cat in our adoption centre where I volunteer who is the queen of her cattery and has been returned three times (she's very picky – a good trait for a cook). She is NOT a love interest and if she has a relationship with anyone in the future, it would likely be to one of the no-named WB pirates on Moby 3 so please don't abandon this fic because you think I added a Mary Sue. I swear, I did the litmus test. She passed with flying colors. She's not a Sue. :)

Feedback, as always, craved and adored. Differing opinions welcomed too – I do love a good debate and discussion as long as we keep it friendly. :D

Chapter 4 will be out when I get at least 60% done on chapter 5.

.....it is not going so well. Bleargh.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Ten Years Difference (4/?)  
> Author: Stormy1x2  
> Word Count (chapter): 3527  
> Notes: Apparently there's confusion about the ages, and don't feel bad – it's my fic and I screwed up too. Luffy is 6 and 1/2 when Ace challenges WB which means they left when he was roughly 5 and 1/2. Ace turned 17 on January 1 and they are in the New World and likely en route to a spring or summer island – hence the nice weather I've apparently given them (given to them in that I haven't really said anything about the weather except that it was nice out). So Luffy is 6 and 1/2 now, and he'll turn 7 in a couple of months when it's his birthday. 
> 
> Hope that clarifies things. If not, let me know and I'll change the title to Eleven Years Difference but I'd really rather not. It doesn't quite roll of the tongue as smoothly. :)
> 
> Also, I love you people. The feedback and honesty has been amazing and it is so totally appreciated. I love hearing what you liked specifically and it made my day to read so many people enjoying my interpretation of the Spade pirates, particularly Dusty (he's my fave, no lie. I spent a long time on him. You'll meet my 2nd fave in this chapter, with about half of his back story. I hope you enjoy!). If it hadn't been for you all, you would not be getting this chapter so fast. My buffer is gone now. See below:
> 
> Fic Status:  
> Chapter 5 – 60% finished (Halp! Need encouragement to work on it!!! All I know is Ace wakes up at the end, I don't know, Ace will need definite Luffy and Marco and Whitebeard time but that will likely be in chpt 6. I do have a scene with Luffy and WB talking over a snack and some bonding time with Haruta but not much else. Blah. BLAH I SAY.) And you'll meet three more Spades. After that I'm tapped out. 
> 
> Chapter 6: ....Ahahahahahahahaha! Yeah. I never got that far – I didn't think the interest would hold out – both mine and yours. WRONG. :) TAPPED. OUT. I. SAY.

o0o  
Chapter 4  
o0o

Thatch was apparently in awe. Never had he seen so many ways to make perfectly healthy dishes so utterly unhealthy and fattening. It was almost inspiring. 

Still gaping at the notepad of recipes and tricks he'd been given, he was addressing his words to Laurel and Eddie, the two cooks of the Spade pirates who had eventually joined him in his kitchen. Oyaji had been more than happy to have the Moby Three moor by them near one of their less-occupied islands in order to allow the Spade pirates to visit. Marco had been hoping Thatch would pick up a few tricks for feeding the kid. If that notebook and Thatch's expression was anything to go by, well, mission accomplished.

Luffy had bounced around the deck in agony, if what he told Marco was anything to go by, as he waited for the other ship to arrive. The Spade pirates had been the first to cross over the ramp they'd set up between the ships, the one in the cowboy hat reaching Luffy just as the little boy leaped at him, sending him sprawling. Instead of being irked, the man had tightened his grip on Luffy, squeezing him for all he was worth.

“Dusty, Dusty, Dusty,” Luffy had chanted, snuggling into the other man's chest. “I missed you!”

“Missed you too, Spitfire,” said the man, apparently named Dusty. He sat up, still clutching the child with his left hand, and reached into a leather satchel slung over his shoulder with his right. “I have something for you.”

Marco watched, curious to know what the important 'thing' was that Luffy had throw away to avoid being burnt. He was surprised to see it was a simple straw hat, a little tattered around the edges, and showed places all over it that were obviously were repairs. A surprisingly bright and clean red ribbon wound around the base of it. It was oddly familiar-looking too, but Marco couldn't quite place it. Luffy was ecstatic to see it, and he pulled it down with both hands until the brim was over his ears. “Thank you, thank you, thank you Dusty!” Luffy wrapped his arms around the man again, nuzzling his face into the First Mate's shoulder. 

Dusty was grinning softly down at the cuddling child, rubbing his back and briefly nosing his hair in a move that seemed completely automatic, as though this was something they did all the time. “Anytime, kiddo.”

“No hugs for me?” A short, chubby guy with a curly, black beard and an olive green headband wrapped around his bald head had crossed over next and crouched by the two of them, reaching out to muss the kid's already messy hair. 

“Eddie!” Luffy somehow migrated into Eddie's arms. The man swung him into the air, caught him, and hiked him up onto one ample hip, poking Luffy's belly with the opposite hand. “Look at you! You're wasting away here!”

Behind Marco, Thatch had given a pained whimper at the reminder. A girl had crossed over next, right behind her brother (had to be, they looked freaking identical except in body type). Her hair matched Eddie's beard, was also wrapped in a green headband but she was slim where he was not and she had immediately gone to Thatch, a thick notepad in hand. “You must be Thatch.” She had given him a toothy grin. “I recognize that whimper from the Den Den Mushi. I'm Laurel.”

Thatch blinked, and then she was shaking his hand and shoving the book into the other. “What's this?”

“Ways my brother and I have come up with to actually do what no man has done before and try to fill up a pair of black holes,” she said, winking at him and immediately flipped open the notebook to show him. Thatch was thus lost to Marco. Then a missile attacked Laurel and she went down, laughing and giggling at the small boy who clung to her back chanting, 'Meat! Meat! Meat!'

Marco's attention was brought back to the ramp where a giant man, roughly the size of Kingdew but far less muscular, was crossing with a giant black bag in hand. His expression was worried and as he reached the Moby, Marco moved to greet him. The simple purple tunic didn't automatically hint at his occupation but the bag certainly did. “You must be Doc?”

“Guess this gave it away, huh?” The big man gave his bag a small shake. His voice was deep and Marco had a feeling when he wanted to get someone's attention, it would boom like thunder, but for now, it was quiet and respectful. “I have no doubt your nurses are doing a wonderful job – I saw how they did patching us up.” Marco smiled sheepishly. He knew one of the wounds that had needed stitching on Doc had been caused by one of his talons. He remembered aiming for that tunic. “But I would sleep better at night if I could check on Ace for myself, just to see how he's doing--”

“Biggie!” shrieked Luffy and Marco watched, amused, as Luffy climbed the man like a tree until he got to the doctor's shoulders, his hat pushed back and dangling between his shoulder blades. That was when Thatch had led to the two cooks off to his galley which, helpfully, cleared the deck somewhat and gave them more room. 

“Luffy!” The doctor peeled him off – carefully, Marco noted – and held him out at arms length, giving the kid a quick visual assessment. He poked the kids ribs too, and gave him a small glare. “What's this about you not telling people how much you need to eat? I know for a fact Eddie and Laurel reminded you each and every day about your snacks.” He frowned at the kid. “I know Ace is always telling you to not tell everyone everything about yourself, but not when it comes to how much people should be feeding you.”

Had the kid really lost that much weight? He was whipcord thin of course, but it seemed skinny in that way one usually attributed to lots of activity, not necessarily starvation. Marco felt his stomach twist again, and he looked at the doctor. “I promise you, we had no idea of his dietary requirements, yoi. If we'd known--”

“Yeah, the Whitebeard Pirates aren't exactly known for starving their.... passengers,” the big man said calmly, giving him a wink. “It took Eddie and Laurel a long time to figure out what the kid needed versus what he wanted, and how to reach that goal. With Ace unconscious, it's not surprising he didn't tell you much.” The doctor rolled his eyes. “He drilled into Luffy the importance of secrecy every day. I am actually not really surprised it took you four days to find out. I'm just surprised he was able to hold out this long without saying anything.”

The little secret-keeper glowered at the big man. “I promised as Ace I would be careful with strangers! I don't break promises, Biggie!”

“I know that, kiddo,” Biggie said, lightly touching Luffy's sides and watching with a grin as the child convulsed with laughter and giggles. “But your stomach roars when you miss a snack. I don't even want to know what it sounded like after four full days with no snacks or extra food.”

“Actually, the sounds his stomach was making kept the nurses up at night,” Marco said, grinning at a suddenly shy Luffy who was listening to them with a red face. “They thought a wild animal was loose in the infirmary somewhere, yoi.”

The child glared at him and turned back to the doctor. “Where's Spook? And Tyger?” He was obviously trying to change the subject. “And Ethan!”

“Spook will be up in a minute – he's trying to help Tyger.” Big Doc looked at Marco. “Tyger wound up with a broken leg and it takes him forever to get anywhere. He's small enough that any of us could easily carry him, including Spook, but he's stubborn and insists he can do everything by himself.” The doc pinched the bridge of his nose. “Which would be admirable if not for the fact that when he's healthy, he nags at poor Spooky to do everything for him.”

Marco let out a laugh. “I can think of a few of my crew like that,” he said. 

“Pains in the ass, every one of them,” Doc said, nodding his head. “Ethan's watching them bicker, ready to break 'em up if he has to. The two of them have been partners for years and when they get concerned about each other, they get... temperamental. Ethan's our sharpshooter and has been known to take the wind out of their sails with a few well-placed shots now and again.”

Behind Marco, Izou looked at Doc with interest. “What's he use?” he asked, holding up one of his handguns as an example. 

“I have no idea,” Doc replied. “All I know is he has a rifle the size of his telescope and he carries both of them on his back which has made a for a few interesting moments when he pulls the wrong one out.”

Izou burst out laughing and Marco couldn't help but join in. The worried knot in his stomach loosened. He had been uneasy. He knew Pops liked Ace and for whatever reason, was determined to keep him on board. It wasn't often that the Whitebeard Pirates 'recruited' in such a potentially hostile fashion, but Pops so rarely did this. One of the last times would have been nearly ten years ago with Thatch, who had been an angry, abused and terrified teenager, and until he found his niche in the kitchen, had tried to escape numerous times. Marco had been astounded by the change in him, and Pops had told him that he could somehow sense when some people just needed to be with them. Thatch had been one, and Haruta too, sort of, thought not nearly as bad as Thatch. Hell, Marco himself had been one. And now, Ace.

The problem was, Ace was wanted by others. Thatch and Marco and the others forcefully stolen by Whitebeard had usually been alone, unwanted by the world, and it didn't take long for them to realize how good being wanted in a positive way felt. Ace, on the other hand, had a devoted and caring crew that refused to just let the Whitebeards up and abscond with their leader, which was why Pops eventually gave the order to bring them all in, but on a different ship. Ace needed to be won over in the same way Thatch and Marco had. His crew on the other hand, didn't seem to have the same darkness and anger inside of them that needed the same kind of healing. 

Marco had just hoped the Spades would fit in. Not every pirate deserved to be a member of the Whitebeards, and since they had to take them in, in order to have Ace (and Luffy by default), Marco had worried about if they really were meant to be there. 

But talking to them was alleviating those fears. These were good people – Marco could sense that easily, and it was obvious in the way they showed their genuine affection for the small boy being tossed from one to the other. “I'll take you to Ace then, yoi.” Marco grinned. “And introduce you to Whiskey. She normally doesn't take kindly to doctors going in and assuming her care has been in any way inadequate. It can get...” He sucked on his teeth for a minute as he decided how he wanted to phrase it. “...volatile.”

Doc snorted and hefted his medical bag. “That would be appreciated,” he said. “I know better than to walk into a nurse's domain and assume that I am anywhere close to being in charge.”

Yes, Marco decided as he led the way to the infirmary, the doc, Dusty (with Luffy around his neck once again) and Izou promising to bring the anticipated Spook, Tyger and Ethan when they arrived. The Spades might fit in rather nicely. 

 

o0o

The infirmary was rather crowded but Marco didn't have the heart to throw anyone out, and after Biggie had complimented Whiskey to the moon and back about her care and treatment of Ace, anyone trying to remove the Spade Pirates would have to deal with her and that was something not many people attempted on the Moby.

“You were right to worry about the potential for fractures,” Biggie said to Hannah, who was peering around him as they both studied the x-ray in front of them. “Those abnormalities you could feel in his skull were tiny hairline cracks that definitely could have been worse if you hadn't gotten him stabilized and moved so quickly. Excellent call.”

“Thank you,” Hannah said so brightly, Marco was surprised flowers didn't bloom at her feet and birds arrive to chirp on her shoulders. “I appreciate that coming from a doctor such as yourself.”

Yeah, Biggie was a surprise all right. Marco had been utterly stunned when the big man had pulled out a plastic folder containing his credentials and seeing among them, an old contract to the Marines in exchange for additional battlefield training. He hadn't been able to stifle his curiosity.

“You worked for the Marines?” Marco had asked, surprise, disbelief and disdain fully evident in his tone.

Biggie had looked at him squarely and nodded. “For almost four years,” he said calmly. “I was a fully licenced medical doctor, did my training around the time the Pirate King set off the new era. I spent over eighteen years handling colds and sniffles and vaccinations and the occasional pregnancy when a midwife wasn't available. Then all of a sudden, a surge of people hurt by both Marines and pirates began showing up on my island. We weren't a restocking location – too small for that – and so we were usually passed over.” He sighed. “Well, word got out that there was a doctor there, and suddenly I was seeing people with hacked off limbs, gut wounds, punctures, bullet holes and lacerations from swords. I was thrown into the deep end of the surgery pool and while I would never refuse anyone aid, I quickly realized I was way out of my league.”

Marco nodded silently. That would be one hell of a switch up.

“So... I needed field medic training so I could train my staff to do proper triage and even help with the minor cases while I was busy with the more difficult ones.” Biggie sighed. “I couldn't possibly do another four to seven years of training – not if I wanted to help people now. So I contacted the Marines and offered my services. I would help them and train their medics for problems and medical issues that were starting to become more and more prevalent with more females joining the ranks – you know, there was one ship that was thirty-eight percent female and they didn't have a dedicated OBGYN?” He shook his head, showing his disgust at the very idea. “Shameful, making those poor ladies suffer until a sufficiently-sized island could be reached.”

Hannah patted Biggie on the back. “You are a wonderful man,” she praised. “If only there were more like you.”

There was a 'here here' from Whiskey who was changing Ace's bandages with the help of Dusty – and the trying-to-be-helpful Luffy who wound up instead wrapping himself in bandages and pretending to creep around the beds like a mummy. 

Marco muffled a laugh and turned his attention back on Biggie. “So I'm guessing in return, they gave you field medic training.”

“You got it, Commander. I spent about eight months getting a crash course compounded with actual field trials during incidents that happened during that time, and after that, I agreed to six months on the ship that patrolled the islands around ours, and six months in my own clinic. I felt I would be able to help more people that way, as well as continue to get the latest in training and medical tech that came out of the Marines.”

“And you turned around and used that technology and knowledge on pirates too?” Marco asked, feeling somewhat sceptical.

Biggie shrugged. “A patient is a patient,” he said staunchly, looking Marco straight in the eye. “A pirate bleeds just as red as a Marine and vice versa. I will help anyone who needs it. A doctor does not choose their patients, First Commander. Healers are held to a different 'boss' than that.”

Marco had held his tongue after that, leaving Biggie to go back to looking at the x-rays and additional scans Hannah was spreading out on the light table, glaring and hinting at him to go away and let the doctor check out their work. Marco wanted to know how Biggie had gone from that life to actually leaving his island and serving under a captain like Ace, but he held up his hands and backed away, letting them return to work. 

“Rarr,” growled a little voice from somewhere around his knees, and Marco looked down to see Luffy-Mummy walking stiff-legged in circles around him with his arms outstretched and his teeth biting the air. He wanted to laugh, but then he had a better idea. 

“Haruta?” Marco called out to one of the many commanders still hovering in the hallway, curious about their guests that had just arrived and the child that had been brought aboard with the Spade captain nearly six days ago. One of them stepped forward – the Commander of the Twelfth Division. 

Haruta was twenty-three and almost taller than Marco, but her facial features and thin limbs and body had led many people and opponents to think she was around sixteen and just happened to be of a race that had larger and taller body types, like Atmos or Blenheim. She never mentioned much about her genetic background, and unless it pertained to her health and well-being, no one really cared. “You called?”

Marco schooled his face into a neutral expression. “What is the proper procedure for dealing with short, evil mummies about to eat your First Commander?”

Haruta pretended to stroke her chin, looking thoughtful. “Well, maybe it won't eat you if we offer it something that tastes better,” she suggested. “I think Thatch said something about making cookies.”

“Cooooo-kieeeeeesssss,” droned the little mummy who did an immediate about-face from Marco and began staggering towards Haruta. “Coooooo-kieeeeessssss!”

Marco grinned as several of the commanders began to laugh outright. “Alright. You're under orders to take this mummy and stuff it full of cookies and apples and whatever else it takes to keep it from snacking on anyone else. When it's full, and safe to be around others, return it here so it can continue its observation of its fellow mummy.” He motioned to Ace whom Whiskey had just finished re-bandaging.

“Aye, sir,” she said, saluting him. She rested one hand on the mummy's back. “This way, evil-mummy sir. We'll find you something much better to chew on than an ancient commander like Marco. You don't even know where he's been, after all.”

“Cooo-kieees,” nodded the little monster, grinning madly, and he willingly followed Haruta's guidance through the group of Whitebeard pirates – some of whom simply moved out of the way, and others who decided to tag along, asking if it was just monsters who got cookies or if they could too. 

Marco smiled. His plan to get little Luffy introduced and comfortable with more members of the Moby Dick was hopefully starting to work. Having the Spade crew there had definitely settled the kid right down, and Dusty was staring at him, a grin on his face. “What?”

“You handled him real well,” was all the other man said, tipping his hat at the commander. 

“Indeed,” added Biggie, shooting him a quick look from his scan-checking. “Pretty much how just about any of us would have handled him. Well done, Commander. Luffy is not always the easiest child to handle.”

Marco arched an eyebrow. “Really?”

Dusty nodded, looking back at his captain. “He's real subdued right now. You may not be able to tell, but it's pretty damn obvious to us. Normally he's runnin' around like an engine at full-speed, shoutin', and cacklin' and climbin' anyone and anything within reach, beggin' for food worse'n a seagull at a picnic. Here, he's real calm and quiet and I think it's mainly 'cause Cap here is still out of commission. Luffy doesn't function real well without his brother.”

“Why's that?” Hannah asked, looking concerned.

“Well, they call each other brother, but the fact is, Ace raised Luffy from a baby,” Dusty said, glancing back down at his captain with a fond look. “Ace is the closest thing that kid has to a parent, and Ace has always been there. Teachin' him, trainin' him, protectin' him – his whole life revolves around l'il Spitfire and for good reason.” Dusty narrowed his eyes at Marco. “Though you'll have to ask Ace about it yourself. Let's just say if there was no Luffy, there might not be an Ace today, and the same goes for that kid, but for vastly different reasons.”

Well, that didn't help. Marco found himself with more questions than answers. 

Dusty snorted, apparently reading Marco's mind. “Yeah. Get used to that too. Ace doesn't trust anyone until they prove themselves, and it's a different test each time. Spitfire is easy compared to him.”

Marco gazed at the unconscious teenager who had, despite his youth, managed to gather such a crew to him and earn their loyalty, all while being completely mistrusting and super-protective. The concern and bad feeling he'd been having ever since discovering Luffy's existence was almost gone, replaced by genuine curiosity and interest. Whatever he felt about Ace bringing Luffy to the Grand Line was immediately overpowered by the knowledge that Ace had raised Luffy. Luffy was a loyal, outgoing, curious, cheerful, playful and well-adjusted little monkey. No one who raised a kid like that could be the kind of person he'd been thinking of. Marco's interest was rising steadily. They had lots to talk about.

Marco was looking forward to it. 

 

o0o  
to be continued...  
o0o

So who do you like more so far – Dusty or Biggie? I love the two of them equally, I can't choose. And Biggie has a really good reason – or a really sad one – for joining Ace that he'll share later on. 

Re: chapter 2 – because there seemed to be some confusion, the entire chapter was written from Luffy's POV and he's a kid – and not a very grammatically correct one at that. He's scatterbrained and the type to run on sentences, so thank you for the comments – and the one PM to beta read – but that chapter was written the way it was for a reason. Any chapter from Luffy's POV is going to be like that. Just a heads up. I do appreciate the interest you took in it though!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Ten Years Difference 5/?  
> author: Stormy 1x2  
> Word Count (chapter): 4350  
> Notes: A reader pointed out that Haruta is male. I know that – but thank you anyway for bringing a detail to my attention – and I'm sorry to say I genderswapped him. Well, not sorry, but for those of you who want me to stick as close to canon as possible – sorry. There is just far too much testosterone and I need a girl commander. I don't like the idea of Whitebeard being sexist. :) As for the influx of OC's. You're right – there are a lot of them even though technically I'm using the Spades that Oda drew. Stay with me now, I promise the focus goes back on the boys starting with this chapter when the Spades return to the Moby 3. 
> 
> Don't be afraid to bring these things to me. I usually do things for a reason and if I fail to clarify something in the story, I am more than happy to clarify here. *hugs reviewers*
> 
> You guys are just phenomenal. I keep saying this but really, you are truly inspirational and helpful with such interesting and insightful comments. I can't help but feel motivated when comments are coming in every twenty minutes. .

o0o

 

It was dark. Dark and warm. He was drifting, hazy and blissfully numb, and if anyone woke him up before he was damn well ready to, he would barbeque their asses. The quiet was a little odd to him – for some reason, he felt he wasn't quite used to being surrounded by silence, but he couldn't remember why, nor did he care. It was soothing, just to float and relax. He sank back into a black pool of warm and let himself fall under again. 

On the screen by Ace's bed, the box that monitored his brain waves gave a cheerful chirp as it recorded the changes. The sound seemed to blend in with the other 'whooshes' and 'beeps' from the other machines hooked up to the young man. The people sitting around chatting and getting to know each other didn't notice one more. 

o0o

For the first time in her pirating life, Haruta could care less about the cookies Thatch had set out on the table in front of her and her charge. It was the little kid she could just eat up. He was too frigging cute for words.

Luffy-Mummy made growling sounds as he shoved cookie after cookie into his mouth. His eyes had widened at the first bite and he had dropped the monster act just long enough ask 'how' to a wildly grinning Thatch – who held up a notebook. The two Spade cooks had gone to visit their captain in medical, leaving Thatch to try out a few of the recipe's they'd given him. “Eddie and Laurel said these were your favorite. Right?”

A violently fast nod of 'yes' and then Monster Luffy returned. Sitting across from him, Vista reached to take one and Luffy-Mummy growled. Vista pretended to drop the cookie in fear and he backed away. “Don't eat me!” he cried out, clutching his chest and pretending to be horrified.

“Luffy-Mummy's cookies,” Luffy growled, clawing the air in Vista's direction with both hands. Vista made an appropriately frightened face, gripping his top hat like he was going to pull it down far enough to hide in. Haruta was doing her damnedest to stifle her giggles.

Thatch leaned out of the kitchen. “Ah, but if the mummy doesn't share, the mummy won't get any of Laurel's special lamb chops,” he said, waving a finger. “It's one of the recipe's she gave me for you and your brother.”

Luffy blinked at that, and then snatched up the cookie plate and held it out to Vista. “Please have some,” he chirped, smiling so widely it nearly took up his entire face.

Vista smiled at the abrupt turn-around in demeanour and took one. “Thank you, Luffy. That's very nice of you.”

The child cocked his head at that, and then suddenly frowned and lowered the plate slowly. “No, it's not,” he said, looking anxious. 

Haruta leaned forward trying to see his eyes under the straw hat. “What do you mean, Luffy?”

“S'not nice of me. I only did it 'cause Thatch said I wouldn't get lamby-legs at dinner if I didn't. That's being shellfish.”

Haruta choked back a laugh. “You mean, selfish?”

“Mm. Makino said it's not polite to be shellfish.” Luffy set the plate down and slid it to one of the guys from Division Two who had joined the troop march to the kitchen earlier. “Here. We can all share. I had lots already – Laurel always said my snack couldn't be just sweet things 'cause I'll just be hungry again real soon.”

“She's right,” Thatch said, coming out with a giant fruit platter. “Which is why I have this as well.” He set the platter down and added a large bowl filled with melted chocolate. “You can dip the apples, bananas and strawberries into this bowl of chocolate. Still sweet, but you'll be getting fruit too so it's okay. We'll just have regular fruit after dinner tonight.”

Luffy beamed at Thatch and snatched up a large chunk of banana to dip into the chocolate. Curiel, sitting next to Vista, leaned forward. “How's it taste, Luffy?”

Still smacking his lips as he swallowed the treat, Luffy clapped his hands. “S'really goo',” he said, before swallowing it down and reaching for more. He selected a large, juicy-looking strawberry next, and grinned shyly at Curiel when the man followed his lead and chose the same fruit for himself.

Haruta took an apple slice for herself. Thatch sat down next to her. “This was another idea of Eddie's,” he said in a low voice so Luffy didn't overhear. “Dipping stuff forces Luffy – and Ace – to slow down a bit. It gives their bodies a chance to catch up, and let them feel when they're actually full, instead of eating indiscriminately and overeating because their stomachs fill too fast for the brain to register that they're not hungry anymore.”

Haruta whistled. “That's clever,” she admitted. 

Thatch grinned. “Good thing I love fondue's,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “I hope they like cheese and hotpot.”

“Though not necessarily together, I hope?” Haruta snickered at Thatch and dodged his swat at her head.

“Gur-ra-ra-ra, what a delicious looking treat,” came a loud voice behind them. 

Haruta turned to see her father eyeing Luffy, swathed in bandages, face, hands and bandages becoming covered in chocolate. She grinned up at him, giving him a knowing look. “You were able to smell the chocolate over the sake, Pops?”

Whitebeard slowly walked to the end of the table where one of the larger benches was. Atmos pulled it out for him and helped him settle down. The strongest man in the world lowered himself carefully onto the bench (which was more like a loveseat with a tall back – a giant loveseat) and sighed as his back leaned against the thick pillows. After a minute, he looked up and smiled at his daughter. “I can always smell chocolate,” he replied to Haruta. 

Luffy was watching him, cheeks stuffed as full as a chipmunk preparing for winter. He swallowed and then blinked at the very large pirate. Haruta was curious to see what would happen. She knew that Luffy had been kept somewhat isolated in the infirmary – Marco was determined that the kid not be stressed out or more scared than he currently was, at least until his brother woke up, and their ship was full of very big, very visually intimidating people. None of them would hurt a hair on the child’s head, but appearances were what kids tended to go by at first, and Luffy's only protector – in his eyes, at least – wasn't awake yet to do said protecting. Even Pops had kept away, aside from the brief exchange he'd had with the child, apologizing for the hit that had finally put Ace under. He tugged at the hat on his head, pulling it down over his ears but leaving it at an angle that left his eyes free to see. “Hi,” he said quietly, almost timidly. 

Haruta watched her father give the child a gentle smile, leaving his hands folded on his lap. One hand was almost bigger than Luffy himself, so reaching out might be a little panic-inducing. “Hello, Luffy,” he boomed in a voice a few decibels lower than what the crew was used to. “How are you doing?”

Luffy gave him a shy smile. “I'm good,” he said, still quietly. Haruta blinked as she realized he was edging into her side slightly, as though seeking protection. She decided to reward his trust in her and she slowly wrapped her arm around him, both to bolster his confidence – and keep him from bolting from the room. He had to get used to the larger people on the Moby Dick sooner or later. 

“And how is your brother faring?”

Luffy blinked and suddenly looked a little morose. “He's still sleeping,” he finally said. “Nurse-lady said he should start waking up a little bit any time now but he hasn't done it yet.”

“If Whiskey said he'll start to wake up soon, then that is what he'll do,” Whitebeard said solemnly. “Whiskey is an excellent nurse.”

Luffy nodded vigorously, some of his bandages falling off his head. “She says she likes answering my questions!” he blurted out, eyes wide. “Usually only Ace an' the Spades will. No one back home would, 'cept for Makino and Sh--” the child cut himself off. “Oops. Almost forgot. Can't tell you. I don't know if it's okay yet.”

Whitebeard watched Luffy with definite interest. Haruta could tell – it was the same look he'd given Ace after the fireman had sent up his flame fence. She focused back on Luffy and asked, “How will you know if it's okay?”

“Ace tells me,” Luffy said promptly. She could feel the tension in his small body start to relax. “Sometimes I tell people things anyway, or on accident, and it's usually okay, but Ace is awake and able to help me if it's not. But Ace is sleeping right now, and I don't think he'd be happy with me if told you everything and he wasn't awake.”

Haruta tightened her grip a little. “Why did Ace make that rule?”

Luffy shrugged, reaching out and playing with a napkin. “'Cause Ace said he nearly lost me twice and he doesn't it to be three times. Or more. He made the rule after the second time. He said until I am a little older and can depe... desen... deep ends myself--”

“Defend?” Vista suggested with a smile.

“Yeah! Defend! He said when I can defend myself I can tell people what I want.” Luffy scowled. “It's taking a long time though. I do lots'a training with him and the Spades but I can't beat anyone yet."

“Gur-ra-ra-ra, of course not. You're a tiny little brat, yet,” Whitebeard guffawed. 

Before Luffy could reply there was a knock on the wall by the galley doors. A tall man wearing an open, black vest stood there, a tiny man wearing a turban peeking over his shoulder. A stiff white cast stuck out from under one of the taller man's arms, the reason for carrying the other most likely. “We were told a little mummy that answers to both 'Luffy' and 'Dinner' was here. Anyone seen him?”

“Spooky! Tyger!” Luffy shoved a handful of chocolate-covered apple slices into his mouth and gently pushed Haruta's arm away before leaping from his seat and bounding across the floor. He skidded to a halt, staring at the cast jutting out. “Tyger, what happened?”

“This idiot forgot that he was a human and that humans are ground-bound,” said 'Spooky' – the one doing the carrying, which made Tyger the man in the turban, Haruta noted, watching avidly. “He did a flying leap off the crows nest. I think he was trying to imitate your brother.”

“You were supposed to catch me, asshole!” shouted 'Tyger' – who blanched and immediately looked at Luffy. “Do as we say!” That was a genuine look of fear on that man's face, Haruta noted idly.

“Not as you do,” finished Luffy. He beamed at the short man. “S'okay Tyger, I won't tell Ace you said a bad word.”

“Thank the sea gods,” Tyger grumbled, looking relieved. “It's like every party we have is funded entirely by me with that damn swear jar.”

'Spook' cleared his throat and winked at Luffy, who slammed both hands against his face and giggled madly. “Uhhh....”

“Damn it!” The little man looked apoplectic at his continued swearing and seemed to switch to another language entirely to continue cursing under his breath without fear of reprisal. 

Haruta started laughing which set off the rest of the Whitebeard pirates. She glanced at her father and saw the pure entertainment on his face, and he nodded at her. At that, she stood up and walked over. “Welcome to the Moby Dick,” she said with a smile. “I'm Haruta, Commander of the Twelfth Division. I've been charged with watching Luffy here until he finishes his snack.”

“Yes, s'what your Phoenix guy told us,” Tyger said, giving her a small salute in acknowledgement. “But someone wasn't in the infirmary to greet us when we got there, so we had to go hunting for Luffy's.”

“Luffy-mummy's,” Luffy corrected him, holding out his chocolate dabbed arms with bandages wound around them. The bandages around his head were falling off, dangling loosely around his neck and tied haphazardly around his temples. His legs and torso were still pretty well wrapped however.

Haruta grinned and then waved her hand at her father. He nodded at her. “Let me introduce you to our father, Captain Whitebeard.” She stifled a laugh when the two Spade pirates froze on the spot, staring up at the large man reputed to be the Strongest in the World. 

“Gur-ra-ra-ra,” chuckled Whitebeard. “Surely the superstar rookie pirate crew, the Spades, aren't intimidated by an old man?”

Haruta watched as Spook nodded his head. “Absolutely we are, sir.”

That made all the Whitebeards pause. After a moment, Whitebeard addressed them. “You're rather quick to admit that,” he observed.

Spook shrugged – and almost dislodged Tyger, who smacked him in the head and resettled himself. “Sir, you beat my captain, who can mop the floor with the two of us at the same time. I'm not about to pretend I can do anything in your presence except be polite and hope you don't crack the ocean in two to drop me in it.”

Tyger nodded wryly, adjusting his turban and tucking the ends under the sides. “We can be dumb sometimes, but we aren't stupid. Or suicidal.” He thought for a moment, and then added, “Much.”

Whitebeard studied the two candid pirates for a moment. Haruta did a mental countdown in her head until her father burst out in approving laughter, and labelled them both 'cheeky brats' which, to the commanders watching, was as good as Whitebeard saying they were in. The tension dissipated and Spook set Tyger down on a bench – just in time to turn around and catch Luffy who had launched himself at the tall man. “Spooky!”

“Spook,” the man corrected him, using a tone that reminded Haruto of Marco when telling Thatch his name was not 'pineapple', 'mango' and/or 'blue chicken'. “Good to see you, kid.”

Luffy slid down and then tackled Tyger, accidentally jostling his leg as he did so. Tyger gasped in pain as the child hit his middle with a *whump* but didn't say anything except, “Yeah, I missed you too, bratling.”

Haruta smiled at the little reunion. Then she shuddered. A uneasy prickle was suddenly going up and down her spine, and she blinked twice, before watching the two newcomers closely. No, they were no harm to Luffy – that level of poorly disguised affection was hard to fake. She looked at Thatch – who was frowning into space. Curiel suddenly looked at Haruta, one eyebrow raising over his sunglasses. She shrugged. Well, at least she wasn't the only one who was feeling the need to suddenly be on guard. But where was it coming from?

o0o

The darkness was receding again. People were talking – he could hear them. His name was mentioned a few times, but it didn't feel like he was being held in a prison. He was warm, and he was pain-free. Whatever he was lying on was comfortable and he wanted to go back to sleep. Something was tugging at him to remain awake though. What was it?

He was still wondering when darkness tugged him gently back down into its depths.

o0o

After dinner, the Spade pirates were escorted back to the Moby 3. Marco didn't really want to cut the visit short, but as he had told Dusty two days ago on the Den Den Mushi, the Marines really didn't like it when the fleet gathered, and already navigation and communications were picking up transmissions from a nearby island where several navy warships were gathering with the intent to come and investigate for themselves. It would take them a few hours to arrive, but by then, Moby 3 would be off patrolling the northern part of their territory, and the Moby Dick would resume it's regular patrol of the more southern waters. Moby 2 tended to stay closer to the gateway to Fishman Island and the central islands nearby as well as sweeps through the calm belt, making use of their dials and kairoseki coating.

Dusty had been the hardest to convince to leave and probably wouldn't have budged had not Luffy patted him on the shoulder and told him that Marco and Haruta and Izou were good people and he'd be okay. Ace was going to wake up soon, he added. Then had come hugs, promises to keep in close contact, and goodbyes that bordered on tearful – on the part of the grown men, not necessarily the small child. Marco had added that they were welcome to call Luffy on the Den Den Mushi every day for updates, and that he would make sure they had another get-together when Ace woke up and was ready for visitors. 

Biggie had shaken Whiskey and Hannah's hands, promising to stay in touch regarding Ace's recovery as well as passing on any useful information – having his credentials cleared by Whiskey, Biggie was going to start helping out in the infirmary on Moby 3. They had a great nursing staff there, but serious cases were usually brought to the original Moby due to the lack of a qualified surgeon. Whitebeard had asked him to fill in while they were with them, and Biggie was happy to agree.

Eddie and Laurel had been given similar approval by Thatch, and were going to work in Moby 3's kitchens. The remainder of the Spades would be divided among the divisions on Moby 3 that still had positions available (Moby 3 was their least manned ship at present) and trained in the Whitebeard style of fighting (which incorporated a lot of teamwork - which was right up their alley, Marco thought). There really wasn't room for them on the Moby Dick, and Pop was adamant that Ace would need to be separated from them if they were to help him heal. As a captain, Ace wouldn't allow himself to show any weakness, and would put up a front for the benefit of his men. There was still the concern he would do that with Luffy, but there was never any mention of seperating the two, naturally. 

Marco and Whitebeard had explained what they wanted to do. Dusty hadn't liked it, but he had agreed when the larger man had laid out his points and even admitted that his Ace-Senchou had a darkness in him that somehow they weren't helping to heal completely. The only one who really made a dent in it was Luffy. If they could help Ace, then Dusty was all for it.

Marco was surprised to feel relief when the man had agreed. He'd thought there would be one hell of a fight again, but everything went smoothly. Well. Until it was time for them to actually leave.

That had been when Dusty latched onto Luffy and refused to release him.

It had taken the combined efforts of Ethan and Spook to get Dusty to let the kid go, and then Biggie solved the remainder of the issue by simply picking up the First Mate of the Spades, prying his fingers off Luffy and tossing him over his shoulder. He then waved goodbye and strode across the platform leading to the Moby 3 with an enraged Dusty kicking the air and pounding his fists against Biggie's well-padded back. Ethan and Spook – carrying Tyger – followed them over, and then the platform was raised and lowered back into its holding place along the outer rails. 

The Moby 3 began to move away and Luffy frantically waved goodbye, the Spades doing the same for as long as they could. When they were too far away and too small to make out individual wavers anymore, Marco sidestepped a crying fit by transforming into his Phoenix form and flying a thrilled Luffy into the air for a second round of aerial goodbyes. Then they did a few laps around the Moby, Luffy screaming 'Faster! Faster!' until they finally had to land before Marco passed out from exhaustion. 

....he was beginning to slowly understood what Dusty had hinted at when he'd mentioned Luffy being somewhat subdued. This was the most active the Whitebeard pirates had ever seen him and he had worn Marco out. 

This did not bode well.

o0o

“Well, that went better than expected,” Thatch said, coming into the infirmary after the Moby 3 had vanished over the horizon. Marco was sprawled out on a bed near Ace, keeping an eye on Luffy who was telling his sleeping big brother all about his day with the Spades, while trying to recover some of his lost energy from the thirty or so high-speed laps around the Moby. “I like them.”

“So do I,” Marco admitted. “Pops wasn't worried – he always knows, somehow – but there's always a chance, you know?”

“Yep.”

“You thought you weren't gonna like the Spades?” Luffy asked curiously. He was sitting on folded legs by Ace's head, still patting the dark hair as though trying to soothe the teen while sleeping and the resulting picture was wretchedly adorable. “Why not?”

“Not all pirates like the Whitebeards, Luffy,” Thatch tried to explain. “And they were really worried about Ace. When people are worried, sometimes they can get angry.”

“I know,” Luffy said, nodding his head. “Ace does that all the time. He gets angry a lot, but it's because he's worried about me.”

“Does he yell at you a lot?” Marco wondered.

“Sometimes. But I yell right back. Sometimes it's fun!” Luffy beamed at him. “Ace only gets really mad at me if I do something dangerous and I scare him. I can tell when that happens 'cause that's the only time Ace cries.”

Thatch and Marco exchanged a look. “What do you mean, Luffy?” Marco asked, coaxingly.

Luffy shrugged, still stroking Ace's hair. “Like one time this bad man had me and was hitting me a lot. He used sharp things and he was cutting me. He caught me because I ran away from Ace when he wouldn't let me go to Grey Terminal with him.” The little boy had a guilty look on his face. “Ace finally found me and beat the snot out of the bad man. Then he hugged me and took me home and fixed all the cuts. When I was better, he yelled at me for leaving.” Luffy cringed. “He was so angry, it was scary.”

“You were scared of your brother?” Thatch asked carefully. Marco watched Luffy's face closely.

Luffy's head snapped up. “What? No!” He shook his head emphatically. “I'm never scared of Ace. Ace would never hurt me. I was scared of what I did to him.”

“What did you do?”

There was a pause. “Ace was so scared for me,” the little boy eventually whispered, looking down at his brother's pale face with sorrow. “The whole time he was yelling at me, he was crying, with big tears even, and I could see how scared his eyes were. Ace was really, really scared that he wouldn't find me in time, even though he always does, and that made him angry because Ace has a hard time with feelings and stuff.”

Marco processed this carefully. “But he never gets mad enough to hit you?”

Now that earned him an odd look. “Ace hits me all the time.”

Before Marco could say anything else, Thatch quickly jumped in and clarified, “Luffy, you mean in training, right?”

....Luffy....

“Well, yeah.” Luffy was blinking at them like they were a pair of idiots. “How'm I supposed to get stronger if we don't spar a lot?” He glared at the two of them. “I'm not a baby, you know.”

Marco finally let out a laugh. “No, you're not. You're a strong little kid, yoi.”

That earned him a glare. “I'm not that little,” he pouted. “You're just all too old.”

Thatch glared right back at him. “That's just mean. I am not old.” He pointed at Marco, indignantly. “He is old. Pops is old. Izou is--” he paused and looked around him to make sure said commander wasn't going to jump out and kill him. “--older. I am not old!”

“I'd like to hear you say that with Izou here, yoi.”

“He'd kill me. Then you'd have to avenge me by killing him. And then someone would have to avenge you. It would be a horrible cycle of never-ending murder and death and I'd like to avoid it if at all possible.”

Marco grinned. “Who says I'd avenge you? I'm the First Mate, I can't play favorites.” He winked at Luffy. “And if I did play favorites, I'd be on Izou's side helping him hide your body.”

“Luffy!” Thatch wailed, appealing on his knees before the child, arms outstretched imploringly. “See how they treat me? There's no love here, no love for Thatch.” He sniffled loudly and then flopped his head down on the bed.

Luffy....

The little boy stifled his giggles and reached out, patting Thatch on his voluminous pompadour. “Poor Thatchy,” he said. “Izou won't kill you.” He smiled. “He'll just beatcha'up!”

....Kill?...what the....

“That's not any better,” Thatch pouted.

Marco decided to end it there. “Okay, okay. Thatch, you are not old, and Izou won't kill you, and if he does, someone is bound to avenge you when the food runs out. Okay?”

Thatch turned up his nose at Marco. “Not okay, thank you. Come, Lord Luffy-kins of Moby Manor. I shall take you down to the kitchen and get your last snack squared away and then for a bedtime story tonight, we shall discuss ways we can prank Marco tomorrow.” The little boy smiled and slipped his tiny hand into Thatch's as he jumped down from the bed.

“Take Luffy for his snack but you might as well skip the planning session,” Marco said wryly as he got up. “It kinda loses its impact when you tell me in advance you're going to be planning something.

....take.....Luffy....

“Shows what you know,” sniffed Thatch. “Let's go, kid.”

The infirmary went dark and quiet as they left.

Someone's... taking Luffy?

Luffy? Taking Luffy? Taking his Luffy?

In the darkness of the infirmary, Ace's eyes snapped open and fire blazed.

o0o  
to be continued...  
o0o

Well, technically he did wake up, right? :) Also, this is officially the longest chapter for this story.

The Spades will return one day but I think we all know what the focus of next chapter is going to be. I mean, most of you have been calling for it since three chapters ago. :)

Feedback is love, caffiene, and pain meds all wrapped in a ball of joy that helps inspire me to write me – and the gods know I NEED HELP OR THE FIC WILL DIE ONOEZ. 

 

......seriously. I have, like....ideas.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Ten Years Difference 6/?  
> Author: Stormy1x2  
> Word Count (chapter): 4450  
> Notes: Special thanks to sunrise_flame and Sweet-With-Talent for playing soundboard for me! Also, moss-doll (tumblr) drew a beautiful picture of Marco in Phoenix form giving Luffy a ride – she did a beautiful job! You all need to go and check it out right now. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.
> 
> Fic Status:
> 
> Chapter 7: ....0%
> 
> ...This may take a little longer than the quick updates I've been able to produce thus far. I am hoping to have it done this weekend, sooner if I get inspiration. Which I usually do, because you guys are AWESOMELY FREAKY with the reviews which make me want to churn it out faster so I don't let you all down. But I also don't want the quality to suffer, so please be patient with me for the next chapter.

o0o  
Chapter 6  
o0o

 

Six and a half years ago:

Ace trudged through the forest with his heavy load strapped to his back. As per his agreement with Dadan, leader of the Mt Corvu Bandits, he had managed to catch one of the giant deer as his contribution to the meal of the day. He had butchered it himself, which had resulted in the animal's blood getting all over his clothes, but he was pretty sure he'd done it right. Sabo had checked in a book for him, and Ace had made sure to get all the guts and stuff out so the rest of the meat wouldn't spoil. Then he'd wrapped it up in a plastic tarp he'd found at Grey Terminal (found, stolen from a guy using it as a door for his outhouse, whatever) to make it easier to lug back to the hideaway.

He'd given one of the hind quarters and the heart to Sabo who had requested it. Apparently he'd read you could eat the heart raw and it tasted really good. Ace didn't know and he didn't want to know – he just chucked the organ at Sabo and started the trip home. The deer was huge, like all the animals on the mountain, but Ace was used to carrying even heavier baggage then that. The ten-year-old just wanted to get it back so Dadan could cook it, he could grab his dozen pieces and then finally escape to his room for the night. 

As he neared the bandit house, he could hear shouting. That wasn't altogether new – there was always shouting going on. Dadan yelling at the bandits, the bandits yelling at each other, Dadan and the bandits yelling at the dog – it never ended. But this time there was something different – a deep, gruff voice that was painfully familiar, and he slowed down as he approached, not wanting to walk into a Fist of Love or worse. Garp, his adopted grandfather, was standing there in the front yard, barking something at Dadan who was shrieking back. He could hear volume but not much else until he got closer. Then the words began to clarify and Ace could make them out finally.

“Why do you keep doing this to me?” Dadan shrieked, spitting cigarettes from her mouth like a machine gun. She was flapping her arms in the air as though she were trying to take off. “We didn't even want the last one you dropped on us! He's a little shit – and now you want me to raise another little shit?”

Ace ignored the familiar pang in his chest when he heard the familiar words coming from his foster mother's mouth. It wasn't the first time he'd heard that. It was something she yelled at Garp all the damn time – he should be used to it by now. Ace glared at the two morons fighting back and forth and then slung the pack of meat high into the air. It landed with a wet-sounding splat between the two combatants, which surprised them into silence for a brief moment. That was all he needed.

“Food,” he said curtly. Dogra and Magra scuttled out of the house to pick up the tarp full of venison and drag it back into the house. Ace strode forward, intent on ignoring the two bickering idiots, when he was suddenly hauled back by the scruff of his t-shirt. He yelped in surprise, though in all honesty, he hadn't expected his grandfather to let him get away without some kind of greeting. Still, hope always sprang eternal, though he didn't know why. “Let me go!”

“How dare you try to walk past your grandfather without saying hello!” Garp boomed, and Ace braced himself reflexively. Sure enough, his grandfather's fist whistled through the air, striking him hard across the temple. Ace couldn't quite stifle the yelp of pain that escaped him, and the resulting pain and dizziness made him fall to the ground, one hand holding the welt.

“Hello, shitty gramps,” he muttered, rubbing his head. “Happy now?”

Garp apparently didn't hear anything past 'hello'. “Ace, m'boy, I've brought you a new brother!” he boomed, and waved his arm as though he was presenting something. Ace blinked and looked around. He didn't see anyone. 

“Are you finally going senile?” he asked hopefully. Would they finally have an excuse to get the crazy bastard locked up in a mental ward somewhere?

Garp struck him again, and this time Ace hit the ground in front of a strange looking, plastic basket. He looked inside it – and then did a double-take.

There was a baby in that basket.

Ace slowly switched his stare from the baby to his grandpa – who was still beaming even with his fist steaming from the last hit he'd given – and then to Dadan – who was still staring at Garp with a horrified expression – and then back to the baby. It was sleeping, thankfully. Ace didn't know much about babies except that they were loud when they were awake. 

Dadan shrieked again, something about not wanting to do this anymore and then she and Garp were off again in another argument. Ace tuned them out, focusing on the little one in the basket. He kinda looked like Ace did – a thatch of messy black hair framing a round little face. He didn't have freckles though. Sucks to be you, little guy, he thought before standing up and giving the two bickering adults a deadly glare before turning to the house to go get his share of the meat. No one wants you either.

That struck a chord with him, and he paused, looking back down at the baby. No one had wanted him either, and he knew what that felt like. He'd grown up knowing he wasn't wanted by the bandits, and the blood he carried inside his veins made him absolutely hated by everyone else. Was this kid going to be the same as him?

Not my problem, he told himself and went inside resolutely. He wasn't going to get involved.

o0o

 

Ace winced as another cry rang out. In the past couple of weeks, the baby – apparently named Luffy – had grown enough that he was trying to move around on his own. Dadan had said he was about eight months old or something. In an attempt to thwart his efforts, Dadan or one of the bandits would drop him into what they called a 'playpen' but was actually a large wooden box. All it needs is a lid, Ace found himself thinking at times. Then it could be a coffin.

The kid was probably wet or hungry – or both. Dadan rarely did anything with the baby; it was usually Magra or Dogra that did the feeding and the changing, but even so, that was all they did. Magra seemed terrified of the kid, and Dogra was always going out to 'patrol' their territory. Ace was gone most of the day, but no matter what time he came back, the kid was always in the box. He'd check once in a while – the kid was growing, so they were obviously feeding it. But the kid always had a sad look, even when sleeping. Ace always felt something curdle inside his chest when he saw that, and would go back to the forest and destroy things until it went away.

It wasn't going to go away tonight. Ace couldn't leave – he'd twisted his ankle in his sparring match with Sabo and Dadan had reluctantly wrapped it up and told him if he wanted it to heal, to stay off it for at least two days. Then she and the bandits got skunk-faced drunk and passed out.

The kid had been crying steadily for almost an hour. Ace could hear it, gasping and gulping in air and wailing at the top of its little lungs. When was the last time it was fed? Babies needed to be fed a lot, right? Like every couple of hours or something? That's what Sabo said anyway, when Ace had told him about the little nuisance taking up residence in the bandit house. 

There was another hiccoughing gasp, and the baby actually sounded like he was choking for a moment. Ace felt a pang in his chest and finally rolled over, sat up and began the laborious task of manoeuvring down the ladder. Just to see if he could get the little brat to shut up, he told himself. He was never going to get any sleep at this rate if he didn't. How the hell are they sleeping through this? Ace threw a glare across the room to where Dadan was sprawled out on her futon – and blinked as he registered something in her ears. Ear plugs? Seriously?

“They use fucking ear plugs?” he growled. Had they done that with him too? Just ignored a young child that wanted to be...

Shaking his head, he hobbled over to the crate and peered over the side. The baby was still sobbing, his face bright red and thick tear tracks trailing down his chubby cheeks. His little legs kicked furiously in the air. Ace found himself reaching down to the tiny creature, touching its arm. The baby's eyes opened, tear-filled and angry, and Ace found himself smirking. “Man, you're really pissed off, aren't ya?” He rubbed the little arm and blinked when the baby moved swiftly and latched on to his finger with his even smaller fingers. 

It took him a moment to notice, but suddenly the silence was almost deafening. The baby was still gasping and hiccoughing but he was also looking up at Ace, eyes wide and wondering. No wonder. Probably the first time in weeks that someone came to see him at night. “Don't get used to it, brat,” he muttered awkwardly. “What did you want, anyway?” The baby whimpered and a gurgling noise rose from its round little belly under the dirty blanket carelessly draped over him. Ace rolled his eyes. “Of course.”

Well, if he wanted to sleep, he'd have to get the little guy something to eat. The urge to kick Dadan awake to make her do it was strong, but the resulting fight would wake up all the bandits and then he could kiss sleep goodbye for the rest of the night. He sighed, glared down at the brat, and said, “Hang on a second.”

He limped over to the 'kitchen' which was just another part of the main room of the house to where the large duffel bag that arrived with the kid had been thrown. Inside, Ace found a whole host of things he didn't quite recognize, but there was a sheaf of handwritten pages. Oh thank the sea gods – the kid came with an instruction manual! Ace flipped through it until he saw a picture of a baby bottle and read about how he needed to mix water with something called 'formula' and make sure it was warm. Didn't sound like rocket science to him.

Ace checked the counters and saw a rinsed out baby bottle. Well, at least they were washing them. Half the time the bandits simply reused dirty plates. He checked the cupboards and found a canister that read 'Baby Formula' on the side. The notes told him how much to scoop in to the bottle, and then he grabbed the tea kettle from the counter, pouring a little out to check – it was still warm. Good enough. 

Ace put the lid on and shook it as he skimmed the notes again. Apparently after the kid ate, he was gonna have to 'burp' him by patting or rubbing his back. Ace sighed. This was more complicated then he had anticipated. A hitched whimper wafted out of the crate and he limped back over, cursing his ankle that simply prevented him from leaving the bandit house to avoid all this hassle. He set the bottle down and reached in, awkwardly trying to pick the kid up without dropping him. The baby was all squirmy and wriggly but Ace had a tight grip on the grimy t-shirt and the kid's diaper. He sat down, leaning against the coff-crate, and plunked the child down between his legs before grabbing the bottle and sticking it in the kid's mouth. For a moment he thought there was going to be a problem, but then the kid leaned back against his stomach, small hands coming up to help Ace hold it in place. 

For a few moments there was only the contented sounds of a baby drinking, little grunts and sighs escaping as he furiously suckled as fast as he could. Ace smothered a laugh – the kid took food seriously, apparently. Now that he was quiet, Ace took a moment to study the brat – well, from what he could see at that angle. He reached out with the hand not holding the bottle and touched the fine black hair on the baby's head. It was so soft. So was his skin, Ace was surprised to note, as he trailed a finger along the baby's chubby cheek. 

He's so small. Ace had no idea how something like this was expected to survive in the care of bandits. Hell, he wasn't even sure how he had survived if this was the level of interest they took in raising kids.   
The baby sucked the bottle dry and Ace set it aside. He leaned the kid forward keeping one hand under his belly and began to rub his back. He had no idea if this was right, or what to do if it wasn't, but the notes said 'rub'. So he continued to rub small circles into the tiny back, patting gently once in a while until all of a sudden a loud belch broke the silence of the night. Ace blinked and then chuckled from sheer surprise. “Didn't know something so small could do that so loud,” he murmured, and the baby snuffled and yawned. Ace picked him up, intending to set it back down in the crate when the baby somehow twisted and latched on to his t-shirt. Ace had to reposition his hands to keep from dropping him, and wound up holding the kid to his chest. The baby nuzzled his head against him, and Ace stared down at the tiny creature, feeling his heart start pounding. 

The sheer trust this little one had in him, trusting that he wouldn't hurt him or drop him... Ace swallowed hard and then moved over to the crate, gently peeling the kid's fingers off his shirt and setting him down gently on the padding. The baby was half-asleep and he slowly rolled over, yawning widely, eyes closing. Ace paused, and then carefully lay the blanket on top of him, surprising himself by making sure each limb was carefully covered. Then he stopped, shook himself, and stood up straight. 

He shouldn't get attached. He had enough problems of his own, and things to work towards, plans to see through. He and Sabo had work to do if they were ever going to earn enough money to buy their pirate ship and get out of the hell they called Goa Kingdom. This was a nuisance he didn't need. He'd survived the bandits, this kid could do the same. He was Garp's actual grandson. That meant he had to be tough.

Right?

He nodded firmly and went back up the ladder, determined to forget what had transpired that night, and wondering why a part of him didn't really want to. 

 

o0o

 

Someone took Luffy.

The words kept repeating themselves, over and over again in Ace's head, a broken record on repeat. Nothing else was able to get through – not the pain of his still-healing body, not the confusion of where he was or what had happened to him. Nothing mattered except someone had taken his baby brother away from him, and whoever did so was going to die. 

Fire flashed out from him in a thick wide circle, enveloping the room he was in, sending even thicker flames racing up walls, the divider curtains, warping and scorching the Adams Wood flooring. Smoke swirled in thick clouds, trapped in the windowless room. He struggled to sit up, and then struggled even more to roll out of it, barely getting his feet beneath him in time as he landed in a painful crouch. Luffy, he thought, panting with exertion. He gripped the side of the burning bed he'd been lying on, trying to drag himself up to his feet. His mind was hazy with pain and his vision was blurry, but none of that mattered to him. Someone took Luffy.

A scream went up somewhere to the right of him, and he could hear people shouting but he didn't even attempt to make out any words. He couldn't spare the energy to even try. Everything he had was going to keeping him on his feet so he could find the motherfucking bastard who had taken his sunshine. His eyes were fixed on the bleary shape that he thought were doors at the other end of the room, and he staggered towards them. Someone – a woman, he thought hazily, dressed in pink – appeared in front of him, waving her arms and shouting something at him. He ignored her until she touched him and then something exploded out from deep inside himself. The world went filmy for a moment, colored in shades of blue like he was underwater. It reminded him of when he'd stopped Bluejam's men from hurting Luffy a couple of years ago. Whatever it was had worked then. It somehow worked now. Her eyes went wide in shock and she fell to the ground, coughing and shaking. He continued past her, leaving her where she lay. 

Darkness was encroaching on the edges of his blurred vision, and he knew he had to hurry. His body wasn't going to hold out for much longer. Everything was getting shaky and distant. Not yet. He peered blearily at the closed doors and didn't even bother checking to see if they were locked or not. He formed a fist, feeling the familiar sense of fire and power gathering at his command, and then he thrust his arm forward. His Hiken attack – the one for which the marines had given him his famous epithet – crashed through the doors, a torrent of red-hot flames that disintegrated them in mere moments. Nothing but piles of black and grey ash remained when the smoke cleared seconds later, being sucked out the new opening. It had worked, but it had hurt. Gasping for breath, he slammed one fist against his chest as pain rocketed through him. 

Where is he? Ace closed his eyes, picturing his brother. He didn't know how or why, but something was telling him to go right, to go down the corridor. Bracing one hand on the wall, he began to half-walk, half-lean himself down the hallway. Someone came up from behind and grabbed his arm – he didn't even blink before he fanned the flames in the very spot being grabbed. Whoever it was let out a shout of pain and instantly let go. Luffy. Ace spread the fire out behind him. He wanted to keep whoever he singed and anyone with him far enough back that they couldn't stop him. His fire crawled along both ends of the hallway, climbing the walls, little flames dripping from the ceiling. People were shouting but they were keeping away from him, which was all he wanted.

Stairs. Ace all but crawled up them, knees giving way halfway up. He clutched the iron railing desperately, and willed his legs to straighten, to lift him up again, and somehow it worked. Adrenaline, maybe? Who cared. If it got him standing and moving again, he was all for it. Light ahead of him tried to blind him, and he squinted, letting out a slurred curse as he passed through a large opening. There were shapes in front of him. Big, blurry shapes. They were waving their arms and shouting.

Hiken.

The shapes fling themselves out of the way, trying to avoid the fire and clearing a path in front of him. He coughed, feeling something wet spray his chin. The coppery scent told him it was blood – he really wasn't in great shape, but there would be time for medical attention later. Somewhere around here was his baby brother – the one he'd sworn to protect, the one he'd raised, the only person in the entire world he could say he loved without any sort of hesitance or deceit. If anyone here had dared to lay a finger on his baby boy, he would cut that finger off – and then cut off all the remaining parts one by one before he burnt their remains to cinders. Anything less would be unforgivable.

Someone shouts something oddly specific. It's his name, he recognizes that much, but that's about it. It's a strange purple and yellow blur in front of him, and Ace squints even as he pants for air. Hands. The guy has his hands up, like he's surrendering. Too fucking bad. Ace snarls and lashes out with another Hiken but senses it doesn't make contact. He vaguely registers the guy appearing behind him, somehow unharmed or deterred by his flames, and Ace spins around, hooking a foot through the air and catching the guy in the shoulder. He staggers back, and Ace snarls again. “Where's Luffy!” he chokes out, enraged and frightened and so close to passing out he doesn't even know if he'll be able to hear the answer. The world is spinning around him but he refuses to fall, refuses to give up. He can't give up. “Where....What....”

“ACE!” 

There's a shriek, and Ace straightens instinctively. He'd know that sound anywhere, no matter what shape he was in. He turns and there's a familiar flare of energy with one of the big shapes. Holding him back? “Le'....'im...go...” he gasps, working hard to clench his fingers into fists. People are hollering, Luffy is screaming his name, and everything is blurring into one solid mass of colour that makes him want to puke. “Luffy...”

“Ace!” The small bundle of colour suddenly detaches from the bigger shape that curses out loud, and then suddenly he's ploughed into by a familiar mass, arms stretched out and wrapping around his shoulders, and then again around the body and there's something wrong about that but he doesn't care. He falls to his knees, and returns the tight grip, burying his face into soft blackness, inhaling the scent that is his baby brother and thanking a god he doesn't believe in that he's there, he's safe and he's in Ace's arms where he should be. 

“Luffy,” he breathes, and his world tilts back the way it should. “Luffy...I'll...p'tec you....”

“It's okay Ace,” he hears his sibling babble, and he looks down at Luffy's smudged and blurred face. The darkness is gaining on him, narrowing his sight down into tunnel vision. “It's okay. I'm okay. You're okay. No one's gonna hurt anyone.”

Ace shook his head. He didn't recognize these people. This wasn't his ship. Nothing was okay. “L'ffy...”

“Trust me, Ace,” the little one begs, and that makes him pause - when did Ace ever not trust Luffy? “I promise, everything's okay. Stop your fires, okay? You're scaring everyone.”

Ace stared at his little brother, still panting, breathing becoming harder and harder to do. “I...”

A hand suddenly reaches through the flames he's still got hovering around him, and settles on his shoulder, reaching over Luffy who's still wound around him like an octopus. “You're safe, Ace. I promise. Everything is okay. Luffy is okay. No one is going to hurt you, yoi.”

He knew that voice. He recognized it, remembered it from his one-sided fight with Whitebeard. He's so tired, so dizzy. Everything hurts and Luffy is crying in his arms, begging him to stop. A whimper escapes Ace as the darkness steals over his vision for good, and the last thing he registers before passing out is warm arms catching him before he could hit the ground, Luffy crushed between them.

Then he's out again.

o0o

Breathing hard, Marco caught the young man before he fell, Luffy pressed between them. “Luffy, are you okay?”

The little boy was crying, patting Ace's cheeks. “Ace,” he gasped. “Ace, wake up.”

“Thatch!” Marco called for his brother, who had taken a rather hard hit from the small boy in an effort to get to his older sibling. He didn't say anything about the fact that Luffy's arms had just retracted from where they had been double-wound around his brother – obviously the kid was a fruit user, but they could discuss that later. 

Thatch reached between Marco and the fire-kid. “C'mere Luffy,” Thatch said coaxingly, pulling the boy away gently. “Marco's going to take your brother back to the infirmary so we can make sure he's okay after all this. But see?” He grinned at Luffy, trying to entice a similar expression from the boy. “Whiskey was right! He woke up!”

“But he's asleep again,” Luffy sniffled, rubbing red eyes with his arm and peering anxiously at his sibling who was cradled in Marco's arms, arm hanging limp. Thatch followed the First Division Commander across the deck. “An' he didn't stop. He was fighting everyone. Why did he do that?”

Some of the other Whitebeard Commanders were already putting out fires and checking to see if any of the men caught by Ace's flames needed medical attention. Thatch was relieved to see that no one seemed to be seriously injured. Vista was putting out a rope ladder for two guys that had been forced to leap over the railing to avoid the worst of the heat but neither of them were devil fruit users, so it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

Thatch cuddled the boy close as they moved down the hallway, avoiding the still burning patches of fire dotting the walls and floor. The shipwrights were going to have a hell of a patch-up job to do. “He's hurt and confused,” he said gently. “And he's worried sick about you. The next time he wakes up, hopefully he'll be feeling a little bit better and we'll be able to explain things to him. Okay?”

Luffy still looked unsure, but he nodded anyway, and Thatch breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly feeling exhausted. He had thought the fire-starter had been about to roast him alive, even with Luffy in his arms. He knew the kid was strong, but to be able to do that amount of damage in the condition he was in... As he entered the infirmary, he caught Marco's eye as the man straightened from setting Ace down in a different bed – his had been burnt beyond repair - and let his breath out in a 'whoosh'.

Marco stepped back from the bed, letting Hannah and Whiskey past him to attend to the teenager. He raked a hand through his hair. “You said it, Thatch.”

Thatch nodded and told Luffy to stay put with him for the time being, so the nurses could check and see what damage the kid had done to himself. Luffy nodded, eyes fixed unwaveringly on his brother.

Thatch had a feeling he was in for a long night.

o0o  
to be continued...  
o0o

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I thought so long and hard about how I wanted to portray it, and I wanted to start giving people a glimpse of how Ace and Luffy's relationship began. 

Thank you again for all the inspirational reviews and comments. You guys are making it so easy for me to want to keep working on this I almost feel like I'm being tricked into it. THAT'S YOUR EVIL PLAN, ISN'T IT??? I know it is, I can tell. Well, guess what – IT'S WORKING, DAMN YOU PEOPLE.

Gonna start chapter 7 tonight. I have more...ideas. :)


	7. Chapter 7

**o0o**

**Chapter 7**

**o0o**

 

Eventually, he had to introduce the kid to Sabo. Actually, it was unavoidable, since Ace had robbed one of the worst-tempered pirates in East Blue by accident, leaving Sabo in danger if he stayed where he was. Dadan had not been exactly thrilled to learn there was another brat under her roof, but after counting them a few dozen times, she eventually gave in to the fact that there were now two and a half brats living there (Luffy didn't count as a full one yet, he was too small) and wound up tossing both of them in the tub, while gently pushing Luffy in the plastic basket after them with orders for them to 'clean the kid too.'

 

“You gotta admit, he's kinda cute,” Sabo said, nudging Ace with his shoulder as he studied the child in front of them with narrowed eyes. “I mean, his face is proportionate and he smiles real smiles, y'know?”

 

Ace did know what Sabo was saying, and he had to agree. Even the babies in High Town seemed to know they were part of a higher social standing, born with a sneer and facial features that just grew uglier with each and every year. He stifled a smirk – that must have been how Sabo had known he was different. He didn't have the squished brows, or the hooked nose, or oddly shaped chin that seemed to define a lot, if not most, of the upper echelons of High Town society. “He's _loud_.”

 

“Of course he is. He needs some way of getting your attention.” Sabo let the baby grip his hand, watching with fascination. The baby kept smiling up at them, kicking his little legs eagerly every time they spoke. “He's a lot different from babies I've seen before.”

 

“He's not ugly?”

 

Sabo rolled his eyes. “I already said that.” He poked the baby's belly lightly, watching with an amused grin as Luffy giggled with delight at the contact, gripping Sabo's fingers even tighter. “He's just so... so _happy._ ”

 

Ace couldn't argue with that. It had been a couple of months since he had given in and had started helping out with the baby – though mostly at night, so the bandits didn't clue in to what he was doing. It wouldn't do for him to show any weakness or softness in front of them. “If he'd sleep through the night, I would be too.”

 

“Poor guy still needs feedings at night,” Sabo said in a sweet voice, tickling the infants fingers with his own – using a tone Ace hadn't heard outside of swindling High Town residents into playing cards for cash with him. “He should be slowing down with those soon enough.”

 

“Well, if the shitty gramps and Dadan are right, he'll be turning one in just a few weeks,” Ace said, yawning loudly after he did so. “I'm hoping one year olds don't need two nightly feedings.”

 

“You'll probably be able to cut down to one, depending on how much you give him and when,” Sabo said, nodding his chin in the direction of the instructions Ace had discovered that first night he'd prepped a bottle for the bottomless pit. “That book said to give him a bottle before bed, and then he should be good until four or five in the morning – later if you're lucky.”

 

Ace gave Sabo a light shove to the shoulder. “If you'd get up and help me more often, I wouldn't particularly care,” he groused. Ever since stealing cash from the local pirate Bluejam, Sabo had been spending his nights at Dadan's home in an attempt to keep the pirates from finding him. “What are we gonna do when we move into our tree-house?”

 

Sabo gave him a grim look. “Do you really wanna leave him here alone to deal with your gramps?”

 

The 'training' Garp put Ace through every couple of months (and Sabo too, as he had so recently demonstrated) was something the elderly marine had begun when Ace had turned four. His earliest memory had been of Garp 'sparring' with him and resulted in Ace being planted a good two feet into the wall of Dadan's hut. He shuddered at the memory. His eyes opened and he focused on the infant who was gurgling happily up at Sabo, trying to grab the bright blue fabric that made up the blond's coat. “I dunno. What do you think we should do?”

 

Sabo shrugged. “Bring him with us,” he said flatly, not taking his gaze off the cheerful child. “I mean, you already take care of him more than Dadan and her bandits do – it's like once dinner has been served, Luffy doesn't seem to exist, you know? What's the difference between their care and yours – other than adding an additional ten hours of watch time?”

 

Ace blinked. “Seriously?”

 

“You already watch him from dinner until after breakfast,” Sabo pointed out. “We have that harness thing that was in the bottom of the bag to carry him around. Or we can just bring the coffin--” he whapped the wooden box lightly with his right hand, as Luffy was cheerfully chewing the fingers of his left. “-- and do the same thing they do, up in the tree house.”

 

“Well, yeah, but...” Ace's voice trailed off as he thought about it. The truth was he was worried about leaving Luffy behind when they moved out. The baby didn't seem to smile much at all when they weren't around – returning early one day thanks to a boar that caught Sabo's shoulder, they'd seen Luffy in his coffin (a name which Sabo completely endorsed when he'd first seen it), sniffling and looking miserable, gripping the top rail, trying to peer out and see if anyone was around. Ace had a near-irrational hatred of the coffin. Idly, he wondered if he'd been stuffed into it when he was Luffy's age, which would explain his hatred for it. “Can we take good enough care of him?”

 

Sabo snorted and gestured at the sleeping bandits, aided by ear plugs. “Could we possibly be worse?”

 

And so it was that when Ace and Sabo officially moved out of the bandits home a week later, they brought Luffy with them. But not the coffin. Ace was adamant about that. “We made a tree house, Sabo,” he said with determination when Sabo went to go and pick up the coffin. “We can make something better than that.”

 

“Real cribs have bars,” Sabo recalled from High Town. “They let air and light through the sides and let the baby see and interact with people, even when they have to be inside it.” He sketched out a box with side bars that resembled train tracks. His face darkened slightly. “And no lid.”

 

“No lid,” agreed Ace with a frown, remembering coming home after an afternoon's hunt with Sabo to a the sound of the baby's horrific and terrified yowling, muffled because the bandits had covered the box with a lid, turning it into an actual coffin in their attempts to shut him up. Sabo had rescued Luffy while Ace had beaten up the two bandits who had put the lid on, and told Magra and Dogra if he saw them again, he'd kill them.

 

Needless to say, the Dadan Bandits had lost two members that day. Ace hadn't been particularly sad, and Dadan – after he spoke to her – had laid down the rule that the coffin was never to be covered ever again. It was one of the few times he'd had actual respect for her.

 

Making a crib for the brat was easy enough. As he had pointed out, they'd already built a tree house that was more structurally sound than half the 'homes' in Grey Terminal and thanks to their theft of tarps from all over the junkyard, it was water proof too. Ace had hemmed-and-hawed about the need for a crib until he was up in the tree house with Luffy in his arms and he realized just how far off the ground they were. Then it had become a priority to get it done, even before their crow's nest.

 

The crib they built for Luffy was the length of the back wall so the kid could crawl around freely, and was about four feet high to prevent him from toppling out of it once he learned out to walk. Following Sabo's 'designs', they built a gate into it that they locked with a simple lever tumbler mechanism they'd found in the Terminal and decided to re-purpose. Sabo joked that the crib was better protected than their entire 'house', which technically didn't even have a door, and it was true.

 

Half of the crib floor was padded with blankets, covered in tarp, and then covered again with sheets. Though Luffy was still in diapers, and they knew it was Dadan - who kept yelling about Garp leaving them diapers when they didn't need them anymore and thus dumping them in the 'trash' (along with anything else they might need like more bottles and first aid supplies and sheets and mushy food sealed in tight jars) – who kept providing them with necessities, eventually Luffy would have to be toilet trained (the book said at two years, so they still had time to figure out how they were going to proceed) and the book said they were going to have to deal with a lot of 'accidents'. It sounded like loads of fun.

 

In the meantime, Ace made sure the other side of the crib floor was heavily sanded to prevent little feet from picking up splinters (he had beaten Sabo in twenty-five straight matches that day and in record time after Sabo had mentioned how 'cute' it was for Ace to worry so much about their little brother), and kept it filled with pillows and soft toys he and Sabo managed to find and clean up as best they could.

 

The bars were spaced enough to keep the kid from squeezing through them, but Luffy was able to easily see them and most days, was content to sit inside the second, smaller 'crib' they'd assembled in the space where Ace and Sabo did their sparring and watch them with wide eyes and eager cheers for whoever won (Sabo said Luffy cheered equally hard for the loser so Ace shouldn't be calling favourites whenever he won). He'd chew on an ear-less rabbit or the teddy bear Sabo had found at Grey Terminal and had carefully stitched back together; laughing brightly whenever one of them happened to roll past his crib from a particularly strong hit. Being able to see through the walls of the crib had gone a long way to reassuring the baby and keeping him less stressed.

 

His birthday – according to Dadan and Garp – was in three days, and Ace and Sabo had decided they wanted to do something. They hadn't even shared their own birthdays with each other yet, but both knowing Luffy's made them want to celebrate, even if they didn't completely understand why. Sabo thought maybe they could take another crocodile pelt in the next day (they'd decided to have crocodile meat that day, which – judging by Luffy's clumsy attempts to steal handfuls of their food instead of eating the 'mush' supplied to them by Dadan – was apparently turning out to be the baby's favourite food) for money to get the kid something from a store for a change. Ace thought it was a good idea.

 

“What do you think, Luffy?” he asked the kid who was crawling around Sabo's lap, trying to reach the meat Sabo was deftly holding out of his reach. “Crocodile for money for a present?” It would mean taking Luffy to the bandits so they could babysit but it would only be for a couple of hours.

 

Luffy squirmed around until he could sit properly and see Ace. “Caw-dill,” he said seriously. Well, as seriously as one could be with grease and meat chunks all over one's face, and his wild hair sticking up in black spikes. “Suh, caw-dill.”

 

Ace blinked in shock. “Did he just say his first word? And it's an attempt to say 'crocodile'?”

 

Sabo frowned at Ace, even as he attempted to scrub Luffy's face with a torn up sheet. “Well, yeah, that was a first try on 'crocodile',” he said slowly, looking at Ace like he'd lost his mind. “But he's been saying his first word for a long time now.”

 

Ace shot him a strange look. “I think I would have noticed the kid going around shouting 'caw-dill', Sabo.”

 

Sabo smiled. “No, Ace. He's been saying _your_ name.”

 

Ace reared back in surprise. “No, he hasn't.”

 

“Yes, he has.” Sabo's smile turned soft. “You just haven't recognized it because it's not perfect yet.” He gripped Luffy gently and settled him on his knee, facing Ace. Then he leaned in, one arm wrapped around Luffy to keep in steady, and pointed with his other hand at Ace. “Who's that, Luffy?”

 

“Suh! Suh!” Luffy cried out, clapping his hands like he was playing a very fun game. His hand shot out and snatched a piece of crocodile meat from Ace's plate that was just within his reach. “Suh caw-dill!”

 

“Suh?” Ace was confused.

 

Sabo grinned. “I can hear it because I'm so close to him. Luffy actually says 'Ace' but the 'A' is so quick and his focus is on the part he can say easily– 'suh'.”

 

“You're kidding.”

 

“Come here, then.” Sabo waited until Ace was right next to him and Luffy. Luffy immediately tried to climb into Ace's lap, but Sabo held him back, grinning widely as he continuing to point at Ace. “Who's this, Luffy? Who is he?”

 

Luffy tried to turn his neck enough to give Sabo a look that plainly thought he was an _idiot_. “a-SUH! a-SUH!” he cheered again and then toppled over into Ace's lap as Sabo's arm let go.

 

Ace was frozen in place as Luffy made himself at home on Ace's legs before leaning forward to mash his hands into the remainder of Ace's dinner. His jaw worked up and down for a moment before he was actually able to make a sound. “I.. I can't believe...”

 

“Yup,” Sabo said smugly, grinning at his frozen brother. “You were his first word, and he's been using it for almost a month or so now.”

 

Ace's eyes grew wider, as he looked down at the small child on his lap. “He... he really...” He seemed unable to finish his thought.

 

That was what he had Sabo for. “-really loves you,” Sabo finished for him.

 

There was a moment when Ace's arms tightened almost imperceptibly around Luffy's tiny body, and he lowered his head over soft, downy baby hair. Then Ace suddenly gripped Luffy about the body and gently lifted him back over to Sabo's lap, his hand lingering on Luffy's hand for a second before he was hurtling across the floor to the hatch where the rope ladder for their unfinished crow's nest hung and shooting up it. Sabo smiled gently, knowing where Ace was headed and knowing he needed time to let it sink in that someone actually loved him.

 

Ace could accept the idea that Sabo liked him, and there was Makino of course, but she liked everyone. He could even believe Dadan and Garp could to a point (though he felt that was more 'tolerate' than like), but _love_... Sabo shook his head and moved to get Luffy cleaned up. The baby was silent now, watching the ladder shake from where Ace's frantic movements had sent it swaying. “It's okay, Luffy,” he said soothingly, standing up with Luffy propped on his hip. “He'll come back down for bedtime.”

 

“a-SUH,” the baby murmured. He held up a piece of mashed crocodile meat he'd taken from Ace's plate. “a-SUH, caw-dill?”

 

Sabo swallowed the laugh that threatened to escape. “No, he's not mad at you for taking his crocodile meat. He's actually very happy. Can you say that? Happy?” He aimed a big smile at the toddler.

 

“a-SUH, 'appy?”

 

Sabo nosed Luffy's hair and pretended to ignore the tears he could feel trying to well up in his own eyes. “He will be, Luffy. And I think you'll be the reason why.”

 

Luffy frowned but kept staring at the rope, as though willing Ace to reappear. Sabo sighed, knowing the baby wouldn't settle now until Ace came back. He'd give Ace ten minutes before he went up there with Luffy, just to watch Ace scream about the dangers of Luffy being in an unfinished construction zone. If nothing else, it would be amusing.

 

**o0o**

 

Biggie finished the final touches in his 'office' – which technically was simply a large desk at the back of the huge, open infirmary and a long wall of folders containing the medical records of everyone on board the Moby 3. The rest of the infirmary had just been finished as well, having set it up to resemble his clinic back home as closely as possible, albeit with more examination beds and hanging privacy curtains. There was only one thing that remained--

 

“Hey Biggie.”

 

And here it was. A young man – _mid-twenties, give or take, height suggests human origin_ (on this crew filled with giants, one could never be entirely sure), _definite smoke_ _r_ _based on those teeth_ – stepped inside, holding a Den Den Mushi in his hand. The creature's handle was tilted to the side, and the constipated expression on its face suggested there was a call waiting, which the young man quickly confirmed. “Last toy for tonight.”

 

“Thank you,” Biggie said with a smile, taking the DDM carefully. He had requested one as part of his infirmary staples which had stupefied Whiskey when she'd gone through the list. He'd been even more shocked to hear they hadn't had one in their infirmary. ' _How do you call down for emergency prep for hard cases without one? Shout and scream through the floorboards?'_ he'd demanded to know and the wide-eyed look on Whiskey's face had told him yeah, that was pretty much how they did it.

  
Well, not in _his_ infirmary. He preferred having information as fast as possible in order to give the best possible care, which meant there were now Den Den Mushi's linked to the infirmary being set up at strategic places all over Moby 3 with instructions to use them only in times of actual emergency. He had no doubt Whiskey was ordering the same set up for the Moby Dick and Moby 2, all the while kicking herself for not realizing the need for such a simple set-up.

 

Naturally, he anticipated a few pranks being pulled using the new DDM's for a while, until they got used to them, and that was fine by him. He'd rather rush out expecting an emergency only to find everyone healthy, than it be true and have the possibility of losing someone. In the meantime...”Call on hold?”

 

“Yeah, from the Moby Dick. It's Doc Whiskey.”

 

Biggie's smile froze and he thanked the young man, letting him leave while he took the call. “Whiskey? What's up?”

 

“Well, everything's okay for now,” she said, her voice sounding strained. “Ace woke up a little while ago.”

 

Biggie breathed a sigh of relief. “What happened?” he asked, eager for details about his captain – former, he knew, but it wasn't so easy to change that title once you accepted it in your heart, and so the Whitebeards were just going to have to be patient with him and the rest of the Spades as they adjusted. “Is he okay?”

 

“Well, he woke up, set the infirmary on fire, laid out all the nurses and pirates on two floors of the Moby, set the main deck on fire, knocked a few people over board and then collapsed. You tell me.”

 

Biggie recognized the sarcasm in her voice as the result of worry and dismissed it. “Status?”

 

“Sleeping, now. Actually, his flames seemed to help heal a lot of the minor cuts and bruises he had, kinda like Marco's flames do for him. I can't tell much about the deep tissue bruising, the bone breaks or the head injury until the scans come back in about half an hour, but he's already switched from unconscious to actual sleep, so I'm feeling positive about this.”

 

“What about Luffy?”

 

Whiskey snorted. “See, that's what set this whole thing off. Ace woke up in a panic thinking Luffy had been kidnapped from him and he set out to find him despite his body being about ten seconds away from a complete shutdown. Luffy was on deck with Thatch when Ace burst out of the stairway and started barbequing everything in sight. Luffy got to him and convinced him to stop flambeing the people taking care of him. Marco managed to get his attention long enough to let all his injuries catch up to him and he passed out in Marco's arms, still holding on to the kid.”

 

Biggie frowned. “But Luffy's alright?”

 

“He's fine. Fell asleep in the infirmary sobbing Ace's name and clutching his hand which broke the collective hearts of everyone watching, but otherwise fine.”

 

Luffy was fine, so Biggie turned his attention to the other part of Whiskey's rundown that had caught his attention. “Laid out everyone on two different floors?” The other doctor made an affirmative noise. “I'm gonna guess it was due to his Haki, right?”

 

“You could have warned us about Ace having Conqueror's Haki,” Whiskey said, sounding miffed. “We would have had different security in place.”

 

Biggie snorted. “First of all, you know there's no blocking that unless you've got your own Haki up and kicking. Besides, Ace-taichou wasn't able to take out two floors worth of Whitebeard-trained pirates the rare times he's used it before.” Biggie frowned at the Den Den Mushi. “He hated using it, so he never really trained with it. No one else on our ship was anywhere close to his skill level and he refused to hurt anyone of us for the sake of getting stronger. He never said anything, but Dusty and I talked a bit, and we figure'd he had some real bad memories associated with his untrained Haki – something he did, either by accident or by intent to really hurt – and so neither we nor he pushed the issue much. He was much more interested in increasing his own natural strength and abilities with his devil fruit.”

 

“That explains a little,” Whiskey murmured. “I'll let Marco know – he'll want to train Ace himself when the kid wakes up. However untrained he was before, his Haki is awake and kicking now, and having that much power going unleashed is just an accident waiting to happen.”

 

“If Ace-taichou lets him,” countered Biggie. “When he wakes up, get him on the DDM to me and I'll try and convince me from this end that it's a good way to go. He'll probably think he's a prisoner, considering his last real clear memories are going to be of him attacking Whitebeard and getting the crap kicked out of him.”

 

“Technically, he is.”

 

“And that is a good way to get on his bad side from the get-go, Miss Whiskey,” Biggie said, a warning growl slipping into his regularly relaxed tone. “You've seen what he can do when he's hurt and desperate. Imagine what he'll do awake and focused.”

 

“... Not if it means hurting Luffy,” Whiskey said musingly and the implied threat made him want to vomit.

 

“Oh my dear, that is just a bad idea all around.” Biggie pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing the rage and nausea back down. “Using Luffy in any way that threatens him in the least will earn you nothing but pain. I do not care how many of your blessed Commanders are placed in front of him. Unless they are prepared to kill Ace-taichou, they will not win. And then you will have to deal with the rest of the Spades. You certainly cannot believe I will sit idly by while you threaten to _kill my captain_.” His tone had risen with each word until he was standing at his desk, one heavy fist slamming into it as he finished his rant in a roar.

 

There was a pause and then Whiskey was exhaling tiredly, the Den Den Mushi reflecting a tired, worried look. “No, I would not expect that. I apologize, Doctor. I let my temper and a long day get me carried away. I have no intention of escalating anything here. I want to solve this without anyone else getting hurt, Ace and Luffy included, and I would value your input on how to do this.”

 

Doctor Bigs took a deep breath and sat down at his new desk - his desk in the infirmary of Moby 3, the one he was in charge of as a Whitebeard pirate now. “I apologize too, Doctor Whiskey. Ace and Luffy mean as much to me and the other Spades as Captain Whitebeard and your siblings mean to you. Even if we change the title of Captain to Whitebeard, it will never take away our first loyalty to the man who rescued us when we needed him.” He took another deep breath and felt his temper settling. “My first suggestion is to have Luffy with Ace when he next wakes up. If nothing else, Ace will not attack if he believes there is any chance Luffy may get caught in the crossfire....”

 

 

**o0o**

 

Marco looked up as Whiskey strode into her infirmary, clutching a piece of paper in one hand, and her namesake in the other. He watched, somewhat amused, as she downed a third of Pop's good stuff that he would see to personally that she replaced with her own funds on their next restocking day, and set it down with a sturdy-sounding thud on the table next to Ace's bed. The commanders who were not directly involved with the repairs outside were gathered in the infirmary at her request.

 

Marco was curious. Whiskey was a brilliant doctor, but she had never been involved in an operation that took place outside her infirmary – well, outside of an actual body. When she'd requested this special meeting, after her own meeting with Oyaji, Marco couldn't help but be intrigued to see how she'd make out planning something that didn't involve blood and guts.

 

“All right,” she said, her voice as steady as a rock, despite the whiskey she'd just inhaled. “I have a tentative plan, Pops-approved, and I need help. Marco?”

 

“Yes?” he asked, smirking as she glared in his direction.

 

“Guess what – you're on baby-sitting duty. Luffy needs to stay right here, and be within eyesight when Ace wakes up – which could be at any time in the next five to six hours, according to his scans.”

 

Marco nodded, hiding his amusement. Whiskey was in charge of the infirmary at all times, but rarely did her authority supersede his. As he wanted to avoid the commotion and destruction that occurred the last time Ace had been awake, he was willing to play along. “Not a problem,” he drawled.

 

Whiskey glared at him, but then turned back to her papers. “Ace, as we all discovered, possesses all three forms of Haki, though they are untrained. This means he may lash out even if he doesn't realize it. Therefore only Commanders will be stationed around here, save for me and Hannah. There will be a two floor radius around this room that will be kept clear until we can establish with Ace that we are not a threat and he is not in danger.”

 

Marco nodded and sent a quick look to Curiel who gave a wry salute and ambled out of the room to set that up.

 

“The only Commanders in here visibly, will be Marco, Thatch, Haruta and Izou,” Whiskey continued. “They are the least threatening in appearance. That means Jozu, Kingdew and Fossa are excused to help Curiel maintain the radius.”

 

The three commanders shot Marco a quick look for confirmation. He nodded, allowing Whiskey's plan to continue. It was obvious from her choices, she wanted to keep the least threatening people _visually_ inside, and the most threatening outside. It was actually a good idea.

 

“Thatch.” The pompadour'd man raised his head. “When Luffy wakes up, he'll need his snacks. So will Ace.”

 

“Recruit whoever you need,” Marco said, stepping in briefly to maintain the chain of command. Whiskey sniffed but didn't argue. “Division Four can help bring stuff in but then they're gone.” He turned to Izou. “Before you stay here on babysitting duty, make sure Division Sixteen is ready to help with the reconstruction if there's going to be anymore.”

 

“My Division is always ready,” Izou said, giving a delicate snort. He sent a small smile to the sleeping Luffy who had clutched his robes as a blanket. “But might I request Kingdew check in with them in my stead? Unless we want the little one waking up early...”

 

Marco grinned at the panicked look that suddenly appeared on Whiskey's normally-composed face. Apparently while she had been able to build herself up to plan an execute this kind of operation, she was not counting on any changes to it, no matter how small. “Kingdew?” The heavily muscled man smirked at Izou, gave a rare, soft, smile to the dozing child, and then silently left the room. Marco gave Whiskey a relaxed, two-fingered salute. “Aye-aye, Whiskey. Next?”

 

Whiskey blinked and looked back down at her plan, taking a moment to take another gulp from the bottle firmly in her grasp. “Okay... when he wakes up, his first view is gonna be of Luffy and me. Marco? You're gonna be right by us for the third – our goal is to get him to try and remember you promising Luffy was safe, with the proof of a healthy, happy brat right there.”

 

Marco nodded. For a first-time operations planner, Whiskey was doing pretty good. He figured much of it had to do with the emergency phone call she'd made to Moby 3 – the one she'd kicked everyone out of the communications room for. “Then what?”

 

Whiskey swallowed hard, and looked at the sleeping pirate. “Then we hope he's in a good mood.”

 

Marco nodded. He hoped everything would go smoothly. He was starting to build up some respect for the young man in that bed – for his passion and his loyalty, not only to his brother but for his crew. No crew defended their captain so steadily unless that devotion had been truly earned. And the love little Luffy was practically radiating for his brother couldn't be faked – nor could the sheer grit and determination Ace had shown in trying to reach his brother when his own body was crumbling beneath him.

 

Pops was right. This kid was rare, someone to valuable to lose to death over something so petty as a mere brawl. Marco wanted to meet this young man who had won such respect from his brother, the Spade pirates, Jinbei, his pops.... and himself.

 

:He watched Whiskey flitter around the equipment helping keep the kid alive and crossed his fingers, hoping that her plan worked.

 

 

**o0o**

 


	8. Chapter 8

I can't believe the response I got for the snippet on FFNet. :) It really helped me push through the urge to just push off what I had done and work on it later. Having a firmer idea of what I want to see happen in the future helps a lot as well.

 

I read a lot of great suggestions and I did borrow one or two to help me 'fill' some spots that were a lot shorter than I wanted them to be, so thanks a lot! I hope you enjoy this chapter – I think it's one of my favorites so far!

 

 

o0o

 

**Chapter 8**

 

o0o

 

 

Sabo glared spitefully at the ground, never hating his lineage more-so than he did at that moment. Ace had Luffy in a re-purposed backpack they'd cut holes out of for the child's legs, and the eighteen-month-old was peering curiously over Ace's left shoulder. The set-up left Ace's hands free to slam the blond up against the base of an old oak tree that marked the end of the forest at the cliffs. If nothing else, the blond mused while staring at his brother's angry eyes, at least he had a fine view for his death.

 

“Spill it, Sabo! That man knew you! How?”

 

Sabo squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't want to say. He could handle just about anything except Ace being angry at him. He didn't want to lose this thing, this sense of... _dare he say family?_...to something as vile as his birth status. His hands clenched into tight fists. He opened his mouth. “I...”

 

And stopped, because he couldn't. He just couldn't. This kind of information could tear a rift between them, could ruin everything, and Sabo just couldn't risk that. He _couldn't._

 

“ _Sabo_.”

 

There was a slight change in tone. Sabo looked up and saw both anger and worry in Ace's eyes. There was also something in his face, almost like trepidation – was Ace scared? The very idea was hard to believe – this was the kid who been beating up grown men since he was eight, and hunting for his own food since he was six. What could possibly scare Portgas D Ace aside from the possibility of losing Luffy? “Ace...”

 

“You're trying to hide something,” Ace said tightly, his own fists clenching like Sabo's. The shadows grew in his eyes as he swallowed convulsively a couple of times before continuing. “Sabo, I... we... Sabo...” His eyes closed for a moment and Ace mimicked Sabo's earlier actions and glared heatedly at the ground. “Look. It's just us three, right? You and me and Luffy. You two are all I have. Dadan and Jiji don't care, not really, or else they'd actually be _raising_ me and Luffy. We're parents and we're only eleven, Sabo. I can't do this by myself and I don't want to.”

 

Sabo gaped at the normally taciturn boy. “Ace...”

 

“No matter what secret you have, it can't possibly be worse than mine!” Ace shouted angrily. On his back, Luffy gave a small whimper and buried his head behind Ace's shoulder. Ace automatically patted the toddler's leg in apology but didn't take his eyes off the blond. “I don't have one brother Sabo, I have two. But we need to trust each other. I trusted you with my secret, Sabo.”

 

The unspoken, ' _will you trust me with yours?_ ' rang in Sabo's ears as loudly as if Ace had screamed it at the top of his lungs. But before he could deal with that, there was something more important he needed to address first. “Brother?” he managed to gasp out, unsure if that was what he'd truly heard. “R-really?”

 

Ace blushed, the red highlighting the freckles on his tanned face, but the glare didn't let up. “Well, yeah,” he grumbled somewhat awkwardly. His attempt to drill a hole in the ground by his stare alone was broken up by a quick glance to Sabo's face before he determinedly stared back at the leaves littering the cliff-side. “You're as much Luffy's brother as he is mine, considering how much you help with him. And if he's your brother, then that must make you mine.... right?”

 

That last bit was a bit quieter and tinged with doubt. Sabo tried to swallow but his dry mouth and throat wouldn't cooperate. “Y-yeah,” he managed to get out. A small smile grew on his face and he stood up a little straighter, staring at his friend – _no_ , his brother, in wonder. “Yeah, Ace. It does. All three of us.”

 

A small smirk replaced the grim line and narrowed brows that had been Ace's primary expression ever since that man in town had shouted Sabo's name. “Okay then. We're brothers. All three of us. We'll make it official later.”

 

Sabo was about to ask how when Ace continued.

 

“So, now that we're brothers, you're going to tell me what the hell was up with that man in the city. How did he know you, Sabo?”

 

Sabo sighed, face dropping, and his hat slid down to shadow his eyes. He wondered vaguely how long this new-found brotherhood would last once he spilled this particular secret. “He's my father,” he admitted quietly, after about a minute of silence had gone by. Sabo rubbed at his face, feeling older than his eleven and a half years. “He's a noble who runs a shipping company. I was born the son of a noble.”

 

He shut his eyes and waited.

 

“...And?”

 

Sabo blinked, and looked up to see Ace standing there, hands on his hips, foot tapping impatiently. “What?”

 

“I'm waiting for the rest of it,” Ace snarled, eyes blazing.

 

The blond knew he was gaping again but he couldn't quite help it. “Uh... that was it?”

 

Ace rolled his eyes and stomped towards him, fingers curled into claws. Sabo shut his eyes again, waiting for the punch or slap that was sure to come – only to have them fly open when Ace smacked him upside the head instead. “What the--”

 

“ _Idiot!_ ” Ace shouted. A vein was throbbing in his forehead. “That's your big secret? Scaring me—er, _Luffy_ , over that?” Ace glared hotly at him. “You idiot! I already knew you were a noble!”

 

Sabo was fairly certain he'd forgotten how to breathe. The idea that Ace had known his secret already had him gasping dizzily, his back sliding down along the rough bark of the tree he was still braced against, until he hit the ground with a thud. He sat there, feeling numb as he stared up at his friend – no, he reminded himself again, his _brother_. “You.... you did?”

 

Ace plopped to the ground across from him, checking quickly to make sure Luffy's legs didn't get smushed before focusing back on the newly revealed noble. Luffy's head had popped back up over Ace's shoulder and he was clapping his hands, chanting 'Spo, Spo,” over and over again. Then he yanked on Ace's hair and shouted, 'cook, cook'.

 

Ace sighed and rummaged through the small pack he used to carry stuff for Luffy, pulling out one of the biscuits Makino had sent up and handing it over his shoulder. Luffy's teeth were almost all in but he liked to lick the hard cookies and suck on them for a while instead of chewing them. It was a quick way to distract him for a few minutes at a time.

 

Luffy gleefully accepted the cookie with a loud squeal, hit Ace over the head with it as a thank you, and then shoved one end in his mouth.

 

Ace meanwhile, had folded his arms and gave a mild glare to Sabo, who thought it also looked a bit tired. “Of course I knew,” he grumped crossly. “How many pure blondes wearing top hats with crystal plated goggles can you find in Grey Terminal? Not to mention you can read fluently. How many people can even spell their name there? I figured out you were born a noble a couple of years ago.” He shrugged one slim shoulder, his gaze turning a bit distant. “Actually, I thought you'd tell me when I told you I was the son of Gol D Roger.”

 

Sabo flinched, chagrined. “I...”

 

“Anyway,” Ace continued, not letting Sabo dwell on that. “So your dad saw you. What should we be worried about? It's not like a noble like him would ever think about going through Edge Town to look for you, much less Grey Terminal, right?”

 

That much was probably true. The nobles of High Town considered the lesser areas of Goa Kingdom to be rundown and practically diseased – there was no chance of his father coming to search for him there, much less the forest known for its plethora of predators. Sabo simply couldn't see it. A small knot of anxiety in his finally loosened, and a weak smile came to his lips. “I guess we should avoid High Town for a while.”

 

Ace shrugged and nodded. “Probably a good idea.”

 

Luffy crunched down on his biscuit and began to bang the remainder in his hand against Ace's head. Sabo chuckled, feeling better as he watched the toddler use Ace as his own personal drum. “He's getting crumbs in your hair again.” He grinned impishly. “They look good on you. Like spotted, blond highlights.”

 

The dark-haired boy glared at him again – but it was his normal glare, the one Sabo had gotten used to years ago. “You're changing the next ten dirty diapers.”

 

Sabo gawked at him in horror. “But--  
  


“That's your punishment for thinking...whatever it is you thought I was gonna do when I found out your so-called secret.”

 

Sabo dropped his head. He deserved that.

 

“C'mon. We have to make our claim as brothers official, and I know just how to do that.”

 

“You do?” Sabo asked, still glum about his punishment, but feeling happiness start to wedge its way back as he realized his thoughts of family had been echoed by Ace, even if he hadn't known it. “How?”

 

“First, we need to pay Dadan a little visit...”

 

 

o0o

 

 

 

Ace didn't particularly want to wake up.

 

As far as he knew, everything hurt. From his toenails to his eyebrows and everything in between, it was all screaming 'don't move' at him in very loud shrill voices. Oh wait – that was coming from outside his head.

 

Ace very slowly opened his eyes somewhat dazedly and saw a lady in pink scrubs with nurse's hat about to fall off her head, snapping something out at a guy wearing mascara and more makeup than she was. The guy was snapping back just as viciously and loudly in between her barking. “...'th' hell?”

 

The two fighting over him froze, both staring at him. The nurse broke the silence first. “Ace?”

 

Ace blinked a few times, and then suddenly remembered.

 

The Mystic.

 

His crew.

 

The firewall.

 

Whitebeard.

 

 _LUFFY_.

 

Suddenly the pain wasn't such a concern to him anymore, and he heaved himself upright, gripping the railings of the medical bed to keep himself from falling back down. His hair was falling into his eyes, his throat was as dry as the Alabastan desert, but none of that prevented him from glaring at the two of them, his free hand balling into a fist and setting itself on fire. “ _Where is my little brother?_ ” he snarled.

 

The nurse gasped and made as if to step back, but then her shoulders squared and she moved forward instead. “Ace, right? Ace, Luffy is fine--”

 

“Where is he? Where's my crew?” Ace felt his breath growing shorter. The distant pain in his head was growing. He tried to ignore it and focused on keeping the flames going on his fist in case he needed to perform an emergency _hiken_. Odds were he was going to pass out again, but if anything had happened to his loved ones, he'd be taking the two in front of him with him. “ _What did you do with my brother?_ ”

 

“Of all the times for the kid to take a potty break,” groused the he-she?- standing next to the nurse. “Look, kid--”

 

“ _ **Ace.**_ ”

 

“Right, Ace. Your brother is fine, he just had to run to the bathroom. Our first commander took him. They'll be back in—oh, thank god, here they are.” The okama pointed across the room.

 

Ace slowly turned to see the first commander. He vaguely recognized the fruit-shaped head and matching haircut, and the lavender jacket was not something one easily forgot. But then he saw movement behind the commander's legs, and he felt the breath freeze in his lungs.

 

“Luffy,” he breathed out, feeling light-headed with relief.

 

“Ace!” His dark-haired bundle of sunlight raced towards his bed, crouching down and springing up to land – in the he-she's arms, instead of on Ace's stomach. “Whoaa!”

 

Ace felt another snarl building, but Luffy was laughing, swinging back and forth in the--”What the hel--heck do I call you?”

 

He/she smiled coolly. “My name is Izou.”

 

“Good to know, but I meant, what do you want to be referred to as?” Ace ground out. His head already hurt – he didn't need any additional confusion. He just wanted to know how to address the person whose limbs he was about to roast to a nice crisp.

 

Izou looked surprised – but the next smile he gave Ace was considerably warmer than the one before it. “I identify as male,” he said. “I may happen to enjoy wearing makeup and kimonos but I am still a man with no desire to be otherwise.” He set Luffy down, still watching Ace with an intrigued look. “But thank you for asking. Not many people do.”

 

Ace grunted, uncaring of the explanation. At least he had an answer and could stop mixing pronouns in his spinning head. It was only because he was feeling dizzy and Luffy was laughing that he decided to postpone the man's eventual frying. “Luffy, c'mere.”

 

His little brother clambered up on the bed and settled carefully into Ace's arms. Ace ignored the pain his body was starting to issue stern complaints about, and squeezed his little brother tight, leaning his head down to nuzzle the soft black hair. His racing heart began to settle somewhat, a result of having his boy back. He inhaled deeply. “Are you okay?”

 

Luffy nodded, beaming his usual wide grin, squinching his eyes shit. “I'm okay, Ace! Everyone's really nice here! Thatchy keeps giving me lots of good food! And Bluebird lets me fly on his back!”

 

“That's great, Lu.” Ace said lowly, his grip tightening on his brother again as he looked uneasily at the people staring at him.

 

Izou in his flowery kimono and matching hairpiece (with enough makeup to coat the faces of half the Grand Line), some guy standing by the door with hair that added an extra foot to his height (twin sabres, good reach), the guy that had taken Luffy to the head (tall, blond haired and blue-eyed, looked familiar and had a strong aura to him), a nurse – or maybe a doctor, she was looking at him with the kind of evaluating glance Biggie used to give him after his 'spars' with other pirates--

 

“So where is my crew?” Ace snapped out as he abruptly remembered the other, non-Luffy people on his ship. “What did you do to them? Are they alright?”

 

Izou and the doctor looked at Blondie who gave Ace a smile and held up his hands in what Ace supposed was supposed to be a peaceful gesture. “They're currently on Moby 3 for now. They're fine, yoi. Well, the little guy in the turban has a broken leg but your own doctor said it was no big deal.”

 

“Tyger jumped out of the crow's nest but Spooky forgot to catch him,” Luffy chirped happily.

 

“That... sounds right,” Ace muttered, still glaring warily at the people apparently intent on staring at him forever. He squeezed Luffy one more time – and then paused. He picked up Luffy – despite the nurse giving a quick ' _No! Your ribs!'_ which he easily ignored – and stood the kid up on the bed so he could get a good look at him. “Lemme check, Lu.”

 

Luffy giggled and held out his arms, remembering the routine, and gave a slow spin so Ace could see if he had any injuries. Mid-spin, Ace stopped him. Stared.

 

Ace ran his fingers gently along his brother's spine, tracing bumps he hadn't been able to see before.

 

There was a cough from the guy at the door. “Uh--”

 

“Shut up,” Ace said coldly, not taking his eyes off the little bumps and ridges along Luffy's side. Luffy giggled as he ran his fingers along the child's ribcage. He did not like what he was seeing. The rage that had been simmering at a low boil began to overflow. “What the _HELL_ \--”

 

“Wait!” shouted Door Guy, and he rushed the bed, hands up. Ace snarled and grabbed Luffy, pulling him back to his side, leaving his other hand free just in case. “I know this looks bad but we didn't know how much food your brother needed to eat!”

 

Ace felt his flames flickering under the skin of his right arm. It would only take a whisper of a thought to send out a _hiken_ that would take out the entire infirmary. His observation haki was sketchy at the best of times, but he could always recognize Luffy and his fire wouldn't touch him as long as he was lucid.

 

Door Guy kept talking, not even registering the growing heat in the room. “He didn't tell us anything while you were sleeping, almost a week! We only found out when Marco brought him to the galley because we could all hear his stomach rumbling, and he ate like five huge trays of food!”

 

That paused Ace for two reasons, and his fire died down for a moment. The first... he looked down at Luffy, who was totally immune to the tension in the room and was snuggled up against Ace's left side, head resting on Ace's chest so he could listen to his brother's heart beat. It was one of the things he had discovered when Luffy had still been a baby that would calm him down quickly.

 

Ace smirked and jostled the boy lightly. Luffy peered up at him quizzically, his hair rumpled and sticking straight up. Door Guy opened his mouth to say something but Blondie held up a hand to stop him. Good move. “Luffy?”

 

Luffy tilted his head to the side in question.

 

“Did you really not tell anyone anything about yourself for a week?” It was hard to believe. Luffy had a habit of belting out his life story within minutes of making a new 'friend', no matter how questionable said friend was.

 

Luffy nodded enthusiastically. “You said I should never tell other pirates anything until you say its okay, right? But you were sleeping and you didn't wake up...” At this point, Luffy suddenly shut his mouth, scrunching his cheeks for a moment, blinking faster. Ace was horrified to see tears starting to well up. “I thought you'd never wake up, Ace...”

 

Ace tightened the grip he had on the boy and leaned his head over to press a kiss to Luffy's raven hair. “I know, Lu, I know. I'm sorry I scared you, baby boy.”

 

Luffy sniffled, but didn't let the tears fall. Ace was so proud of his bravery that for a moment he forgot their every move was being watched and studied like laboratory mice. Then Ace saw the slight shadows in the kid's cheeks, and his memory returned.

 

He glared back up at Door Guy for his second reason. “So why wasn't he eating in the galley to begin with? He would have just gone and asked for more food if you'd have let him!”

 

“Because he wouldn't leave your side,” said Marco, cutting Door Guy off and recapturing Ace's attention. “He sat by you for six days straight, only leaving for bathroom breaks. But by then no one could possibly miss the sounds that tummy was making--” the blond paused for a moment to grin at Luffy who giggled back and whispered something that sounded like ' _bears 'n lions'_ , “--and we managed to convince him to come to the galley. Which was when we discovered your baby brother is a bottomless pit, yoi.”

 

Ace nodded tersely. He could accept that, and if he really had been out for a week, then aside from not knowing how to feed a D (or a Monkey but they didn't know that), they must have taken pretty good care of Luffy. Apart from being a bit on the skinny side, which was fixable with a week or so of good feeding, Luffy was in perfect condition, in clean clothes, and was pretty happy to boot. It was easy to see the sprat liked these people. They certainly seemed to like him in return.

 

Ace was of a different opinion. This was the crew of Whitebeard – the man that rivalled his father. While the crew may be benevolent towards children, there was no reason for them to be the same to someone who shared the blood of their hated enemy.

 

“Heavy thoughts?”

 

Ace blinked and glared up at Marco who was staring back at him, one eyebrow raised. “What?”

 

The man shrugged. “Looked like you were having some heavy thoughts. Anything you wanna share?”

 

“Not to you,” Ace snapped, feeling cold all of a sudden, despite his powers. He shivered once and then forced himself to calm down. They didn't know. No one in the Spades would ever tell his darkest secret, and Luffy... well, Luffy had once proven he wouldn't share any of Ace's secrets, even when Ace would rather that he did in order to save himself. The reminder of Luffy being in the hands of enemy pirates brought the chill back, and Ace felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead.

 

“Hey, you don't look so good. Whiskey?” Marco reached out a hand to Ace.

 

Ace flinched and sat back, growling at Marco. “Back off, Blondie,” he warned, eyes narrowed.

 

Marco held his hands up peacefully, and put his hand out to prevent the nurse from coming closer. On the bed, Luffy blinked wide-eyed, looking from Ace to Marco to Ace again before dropping to his knees and crawling forward along Ace's side until he got to Ace's face. He put his little hands on either side of Ace's head. “Ace?”

 

Ace instantly dropped the glare. “I'm okay, Luffy.”

 

Luffy frowned at him, looking worried. “Why are you angry?” he asked, staring his brother in the eye. “Everyone's been really nice to me, and they fixed up all your ouchies and made you all better.”

 

“That's good, Lu,” Ace said quietly, suddenly feeling exhausted, mentally and physically. “But that doesn't mean they're going to be really nice to me. I attacked their captain, remember?”

 

“Oh yeah.” Luffy let go of Ace's face, and turned around, standing up to point at Marco. “Bluebird!”

 

Ace couldn't stop the perplexed look from appearing on his face. _Bluebird?_

 

Marco rolled his eyes at the nurse and Door Guy who were both snickering. “Yes, Luffy?”

 

“You're not gonna hurt Ace, right? 'Cause I won't like you if you do.” Luffy folded his little arms and levelled what he probably thought was an angry scowl at Marco, but Ace – and everyone else in the room, judging by the smiles trying to be hidden – considered adorable. Izou was the only one who smiled outright, not bothering to hide it.

 

Marco coughed lightly into his closed fist and then gave them an amused smirk. “No, Luffy. We're not going to hurt your brother. We're not going to hurt either of you.”

 

“You mean it?” And suddenly Luffy was frowning with an intensity only Ace had seen before. Ace knew Luffy hadn't been too serious yet because everyone was suddenly staring at the kid like he'd grown a third head. Luffy's aura was suddenly rising – you didn't need observation haki to feel the heavy pressure the kid was exerting with his gaze.

 

Marco blinked twice, and looked at Ace, who ignored him and kept his eyes on Luffy. The blond looked back at Luffy and nodded slowly, eyes sharpening in interest.

 

“And Ace gets good food too, right?” Luffy looked a little worried. The pressure was suddenly gone, and a regular six-and-a-half-year-old was back, beaming owlishly up at his watchers.

 

Door Guy shook his head as though shaking off the pressure, and grinned widely. “Yep, he sure does, kiddo!” He looked around Luffy to Ace. “Hey there. My name is Thatch – I'm the head cook and fourth division commander of the White Beard pirates. I've heard you've got the same kind of appetite as Luffy.”

 

Ace stared at him, surprised by the sheer friendliness radiating off the redhead. “Uh..”

 

“I'll take that as a yes.” Thatch grinned and turned, heading for the door. “I'll get something up here right away to start you off. Sound good?”

 

Ace was about to shout back he didn't need their pity when he saw Luffy watching him curiously. He swallowed back the angry retort and gave a short nod instead. “Thanks,” he said gruffly, inclining his head just enough to appear polite. His fingers trembled, but he didn't clench his fists. He couldn't make them angry at him.

 

Izou gave him a curt smile and followed Thatch out of the room.

 

Ace swallowed hard. If it was just him, he wouldn't care, but Luffy was his number one priority, and no one else from his crew was even on the same ship as him. Hell, he didn't even know where in the New World the other ships would even be. He had to play nice – had to be agreeable, polite, whatever it would take so they wouldn't hurt either of them. He didn't know exactly what they wanted from him, but whatever it was, it was enough for them to treat Luffy well, and help him heal.

 

At the very least, he owed them for that. And he refused to let Luffy get hurt because of him. It was a hard-learned lesson, but Ace had long since trained himself to keep a lid on his explosive temper when he needed to. Lashing out when you had an infant strapped to your back, or a wobbly toddler following your every move taught him that pretty damn quickly.

 

And Luffy had just shown the First Mate and first division commander (and yes, he _had_ recognized Blondie as soon as his head had cleared, regardless of Izou's introduction – he followed the news bounties like any good pirate did, keeping tabs on those he would consider rivals) that he was no normal child, aside from his Devil Fruit. Ace was shocked that no one had mentioned it yet. But the strangely interested look in Marco's face somehow told him that he'd be having a conversation about Luffy in general, sooner or later.

 

Ace didn't know what to do. His ship was gone. His crew was gone. Luffy and he were in the care and keeping of the same pirates whose captain he tried to kill. Everything suddenly looked so hopeless. He lowered his head, trying to breathe normally.

 

“Ace?” Luffy was crawling back to him, trying to peek under Ace's bangs. “Ace?”

 

“Sorry, Luffy,” he breathed. “I'm just a little tired. S'all.” His words were slurring. He knew what that meant. Haziness was settling over him and he knew he only had a few seconds. “Shit...”

 

“Bad word,” he could hear Luffy saying triumphantly, but the kiddo would have to wait for him to pay up later. White blanketed his vision, and he instantly fell asleep.

 

o0o

 

“Whiskey!” Marco watched as the teenage pirate fell back against the pillow. “I knew he was feeling worse than he said.”

 

Whiskey moved forward briskly. “Marco, get Luffy off the bed--”

 

“No!”

 

Marco froze at Luffy's shout. The little boy was glaring at them. “Ace is sleeping. Don't wake him up.”

 

The doctor was frowning, still moving towards them. “I'm not going to hurt Ace, Luffy,” she said calmly. “But I do want to check him out, and it would be easier for me to do that if Marco carried you for a moment. Okay?”

 

Luffy pouted, puffing his cheeks out like a chipmunk with a mouthful of nuts. “But Ace is sleeping!”

 

“Sleeping?” Whiskey wrinkled her nose. “You mean he just fell asleep? Just like that?”

 

“Yup!” Luffy sat on his crossed legs, gripping his feet so he could rock back and forth. “Shihihi, Ace does it lots of times! Sometimes he'll fall asleep while he's talking an' finish his sentence when he wakes up!”

 

Marco blinked at that and looked at Whiskey. “You know about this kind of thing?”

 

“Possibly,” Whiskey said musingly. She focused back on the tiny rock-and-roller. “Sweetie, does Ace take special medicine? To help him stay awake more?”

 

“Mmmm,” Luffy said, nodding his head. “He has'ta take a white pill every morning at breakfast.” Luffy's eyes opened wide. “Ace missed six days!”

 

“Well, that explains why he passed out,” Whiskey said with a sigh. She turned to Marco. “Sounds like the kid's a narcoleptic. I'd have to confirm it with him first, and see what he's already on and what his schedule is like--”

 

“Schedule?” Marco was confused.

 

She looked at Luffy again. “Does your brother have to do things at certain times?”

 

Luffy cocked his head so far to the left he fell over but kept his legs crossed. “Like naps and stuff?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“We take a nap every day after lunch,” Luffy said, nodding his head. “Sometimes in the morning too, but that's just a little one.”

 

Marco smirked. This little routine sounded adorable to him.

 

Whiskey nodded and lowered her voice. “Definitely fitting the profile of a narcoleptic.” She frowned. “Narcolepsy is strongly tied to depression among other things. It's a little worrisome. And there's lots of other symptoms that could be present that Luffy might not recognize.” She moved over to the bed, ruffling Luffy's hair as she did so. “I'm gonna give your brother a quick check-up. I promise I won't wake him up. Do you want to help me, Luffy?”

 

The little boy cheered and Marco took that moment to slip out of the room. Pops wanted an update, and he had quite a few things to share with him.

 

 

End Chapter 8

 

 

Three straight hours of typing, erasing, re-typing, three read-throughs and this is what you get. :) Please let me know what you think!


	9. Chapter 9

 

**Title:** Ten Years Different 9/?

**Word Count:** 5550

 **Notes** : So I had the first half (the flashback) done months ago. It was the second half that gave me fits, and it wound up being shorter as a result. I know what's going to happen, it's just filling in the gaps to get there. I needed that conversation to happen, but the exact details of it drove me nuts.

 

o0o

_Ten Years Difference_

o0o

 

“Sabooooooo! Aaaace! S'loud!” Luffy howled over the shrieking wind and the pounding sound of the rain on the roof of their treetop home. He buried his face in his pillow, having tugged all the blankets in his 'pen', as Sabo had nicknamed the fenced-in back wall, over his body to protect him from the storm that was trying to take them all away.

 

Ace was at the front 'window' – they didn't actually have any glass in their cutouts, such a material never survived being tossed out of High or Edge Town – gritting his teeth against the wind. Luffy had almost been accidentally blown away with the first major gust that had hit and actually swirled around inside their home, lifting the three-year-old nearly two feet off the ground. He and Sabo were now perched at the windows to prevent it from happening again, using a few spare tarps to try and nail up. The wind was so strong though, they kept losing the nails, and the tarp's edges would spring free.

 

“It's no use, Ace,” Sabo shouted as another nail flew out of his fingers. “All we're doing is dropping sharp things into the wind to be impaled by!” He dropped the hammer as the tarp swept back over his face, and he cursed loudly, trying to drag himself free. “We should have done this as soon as we knew the storm was coming!”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Ace snapped, wrenching his side of the tarp down and trying to bunch it up enough that they could shove it into one of the metal boxes they'd found at Grey Terminal and had re-purposed as shelves. “Shit, I didn't think it was going to be a flippin' hurricane!”

 

“Me neither!” Sabo snatched at his hat as it tried to leave his head – _again_ – and finally stomped over to the boxes and wedged it in one of the bigger ones, slamming the lid down. “I'm gonna lose it at this rate!”

 

Ace glared at the storm trying its best to tear down their home. He and Sabo had been looking forward to it, wanting to test out the true stability of the home they'd built for themselves. That was until Luffy had nearly been blown out the window, along with his ear-less rabbit and two of their pillows. They'd saved Luffy and one of the pillows. Ace had a feeling come morning they'd be on a hunt for Mr Bunny once Luffy registered he was gone.

 

Speaking of which... Ace cast another, paranoid glance at the pen, noting he could see the lump of blankets through the slats which meant Luffy was still in there. Luffy was still howling about how scared he was, calling their names, and since boarding the windows was a no-go, they might as well succeed at something and go calm their little brother down.

 

Sabo apparently had the same idea – he was already heading over. He didn't bother unlatching the gate, but hopped over the railing, landing with a thump next to the sobbing three-year old. “C'mon, Luffy, calm down. It's okay.”

 

“Is scary,” the toddler blubbered, tears and snot cascading down his face.

 

Ace sighed and reached into another metal cubbyhole for a new box of tissues and climbed into the pen, tossing them at Sabo. “Clean his face, will ya?”

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Sabo wedged a training log under the blankets, making a tent-like structure, and then pulled himself and the snivelling toddler underneath, brandishing a handful of tissues and steeling himself for the disgusting job that awaited him.

 

Ace gathered up the remainder of the sheets and blankets that had been whipped around and pulled up one of the extra tarps they still kept there (still in the process of toilet training, Luffy was usually fine by day but still tended to have accidents at night. Makino had helped them by purchasing diapers that looked like big boy underwear to Luffy and sending the bill to their grandfather). The rain was still spraying in through the front of their tree house, and there was no need for any of them to get sick from the damp.

 

He spread the tarp over the pen walls so it blocked the open slats and tied it at the bottom with the string they'd looped through it. He grabbed another tarp and spread it out over them all, tucking the edges under the thin futons they slept on before ducking underneath to join Sabo and Luffy under the log-tented covers. The blond boy was lying on his side, with Luffy sitting up, leaning against his stomach and sucking his thumb. The rain and wind was muffled and softer thanks to the layers of cushioning over them. Ace remembered to keep one back corner free so they could get fresh air, and then lay down on his side, facing the other two.

 

“Well, we'll be warm and mostly dry until the storm stops,” Sabo said with a grin. “That's something.”

 

“Why so loud, Ace?” Luffy whimpered around his thumb, eyes still wide with fear.

 

“It's just the wind and the rain, Luffy. It can't get you.” Ace yawned, suddenly feeling sleepy. It had been more work then he'd realized to try and put up a tarp during a storm. “If we go to sleep, I bet it will be finished by the time we wake up.”

 

“Finish?” The toddler sucked noisily on his thumb for a moment, before nodding and flopping down between them both, smooshing his face into his pillow.

 

Sabo reached behind him and pulled out Luffy's teddy bear, the one he'd patched himself (after surreptitiously going to Makino for a quick lesson on how to sew a leg back onto a de-limbed bear), and tapped it next to Luffy's head. Luffy turned his head just enough to see it, grabbed it and stuck his nose under the bear's tummy. A few minutes later, he was snoring.

 

Ace let out a loud sigh, scratching his head. “And he couldn't have done that an hour ago instead of competing against the weather with his screaming?” His eyes began to slide shut. He was so tired...

 

“He needed us to be with him before he could sleep during all this, you know that Ace,” Sabo chuckled.

 

“Whatever.” Something occurred to him and he propped his eyes open. “You know, we're gonna have to repair the tree house tomorrow. I saw a few planks fly off the bottom, and I think we lost our rope ladder.”

 

“That means a trip to Grey Terminal.” Sabo chewed his lip thoughtfully. “Are we taking Luffy to Dadan's?”

 

Ace snorted and gave Sabo a small scowl. “After the last time? When we came home and found Luffy with three burns on his arm, and about to fall into the ravine because no one was watching him?”

 

Sabo winced at the memory. “We could maybe take him to Grey Terminal with us this time...” Sabo's voice trailed off, sounding reluctant. “We've done it before.”

 

“Yeah – when Lu was small enough to be trapped in a backpack he couldn't escape.” Ace rolled over onto his back and folded his arms under his head. “Nah, I'm thinking we get up early, check the damage, and then take Luffy to Foosha for the day. Then we can make a trip to Grey Terminal, get what we need, make the repairs and then go get him.” He shot Sabo a mischievous look. “Maybe she'll offer to keep him overnight again.”

 

Sabo rolled his eyes and reached over, poking Ace in the arm. “Like you'd leave him there, Ace. The last time Makino offered to watch him overnight, you barely slept, and we were up at five to go and pick him up.”

 

Ace's face flushed red and he scowled again. “Shut up. I just didn't think anyone else needed to put up with his whiny baby butt anymore then they should. He's our responsibility.”

 

Sabo smiled softly, and looked at the youngest, reaching one hand out to stroke his baby-fine hair. “Yeah, he is. And I think your idea is a good one. Makino did say she'd watch him for us when we needed.”

 

“So it's settled then.” Ace yawned again. “We should go to sleep so we can get an early start tomorrow.”

 

“Sounds good. Night, Ace.”

 

“Night Sabo.”

 

o0o

 

Luffy had been happy enough to see Makino, but had voiced his displeasure in a loud, howling screech when he saw his two older brothers hightailing it back out of the village and up the trail that led to the bandits home. Ace and Sabo exchanged a rueful glance – Luffy was going to be hell to deal with once they got him home. He _hated_ being left behind.

 

Before they reached Dadan's, the trail split, though only those who knew where to look could actually make it out. And even if someone stumbled on it accidentally, they still needed the requisite strength to jump up the rocky gorge, make it through the croc-filled river, and traverse the maze of massive trees and dangling foliage.

 

The split trail took them around the mountain at a less elevation than the bandits home. Along the way, there was another trail they'd made themselves over the last eight or so years of foraging through Mt Corvu that would eventually lead to their tree house. But they didn't need to make any additional pit stops this time, and so they kept to the original path that took them almost directly to Grey Terminal.

 

About fifty feet from the tree border that separated the forest and the dump, Ace came to a stop, checked his location and then scratched his head. “Where'd we leave the damn thing?”

 

Sabo snickered and leaped onto a pair of giant boulders. He twirled his staff in one hand and then pushed it down behind a third, smaller boulder in front of the two. Applying force, he wedged the smaller boulder out of the way. The round boulders were broken at the bottom, and their location against a massive log resulted in a small cave. Tucked away inside was the cart they'd found years ago, ready for use.

 

Ace rolled his eyes. “Well, it's been at least two years since we've needed to use it, gimme a break.”

 

Sabo jumped down and helped Ace tug it free. “I didn't say anything.”

 

“You were thinking it,” Ace grumped. He squatted down and checked the wooden wheels. Worn thin, but miraculously still intact save for a few bits that looked like some kind of rodent took a nibble or two out of it. Inside the cart was the grease can they used for the axles. It was thick and almost dried out but he was able to get enough onto a leaf to treat the wheels so it would be easier to pull once they had it loaded with everything they found. “We need wooden slats, rope, more nails....”

 

“I think we should look for more blankets and tarps too, thick ones. Or just thick fabric in general. Instead of nailing tarps to the walls, we could make thick heavy curtains that we could slide across,” Sabo offered, wrinkling his nose. “We'd need hooks, a pole to hang it on...”

 

“Good idea. If we secure it good enough on top, we could keep some bricks or stones up in the tree house to weigh down the bottom during the next storm,” Ace said, nodding his head. “Anything else?”

 

“I want to find a small table to write on,” Sabo said. He gave Ace a mild glare. “My papers keep getting bits of our meals attached to it, no matter how much we clean the one we have now.”

 

“Anything else, your highness?”

 

“A telescope would be cool,” Sabo said with a grin. “Luffy loves spinning the wheel to 'drive' the tree house. Can you imagine his reaction to something that made little things far away look big?”

 

“Maybe it would keep his attention long enough for us to actually prepare food properly,” Ace mused, shaking his head. He easily remembered the night before the storm and how they'd barely managed to get the crocodile steaks past the raw stage before Luffy had snatched a hunk and run off with it in his mouth, not unlike the ill-bred mutt that patrolled the bandit lodge.

 

Ace manoeuvred the cart out of the cramped little cave and then tossed it up to Sabo, who threw down his pipe in return. Ace picked it up with his and joined his brother who was already starting to head along the path that led to the heart of Grey Terminal.   
  


Broken boards were everywhere and easy to find – most of the Grey Terminal residents preferred sheet metal to build their ragtag homes and mainly used wood to mend thrown out tables and chairs, or to burn in winter. The Terminal denizens also had a keen knowledge of the two boys and their prodigious strength, and so they were left alone during their search, save for a few pairs of eyes peering curiously at them, hoping the youngsters would overturn a few things worth scavenging for themselves during their hunt.

 

Ace and Sabo had their cart filled with enough wood in almost no time at all. Several of the boards had nails in them too, which the boys knew they could pull out with their hammers, and they managed to fill a small can with extras. Their search was going along fairly quickly.

 

“I'm gonna look for bits of rope and some more tarps,” Ace said, waving at a pile of refuse that looked promising. “There's some poles – well, something that looks like poles over there. See?” He pointed across the way from the pile he'd chosen for himself.

 

Sabo looked, and grinned. “We're in luck, Ace,” he said cheerfully, holding one hand up to shade his eyes from the sun's glare. Something fluttered amongst the sticks that pointed out of the garbage, and metal glinted as he watched. “It looks like someone threw out curtains just for us! See the fabric hanging from it?”

 

“I think I see flowers on that fabric,” Ace said with a disgusted look. “Well, we need layers for thickness. Do me a favour and see if you can find better ones we can use to at least cover those up with.”

 

Sabo chuckled and leaped over a barrel, hopping his way stack-to-stack. “Beggars can't be choosers, Ace.”

 

“Shut up, Sabo.”

 

It didn't take long for Ace to find several bits of cut rope. With some tape, tar, and a bit of knot-tying, they could repair it easily. He gathered as much as he could find, and paused, spotting an entire coil wrapped around a broken pole that must have belonged to the mast of a ship. More likely the sails, he thought, and began laboriously unwinding the rope from the pole, coiling it up as he did. There was even a small bit of sail cloth – ripped and torn, but patched with other bits of fabric, it would work even better as a water repellant for their 'windows'.

 

It took a while to gather up everything he thought he could use. Bits of wood and broken planks from old fishing boats, metal poles (always good to have a few spares hidden around the forest, just in case), a shelf with actual drawers missing one leg that Ace could easily repair (Sabo could put his hat in there during the next storm and use the top to write on) – all of it went into the cart.

 

He noted that Sabo had been by – the ugly, flower-laced curtains, complete with rods, were in the cart, as well as more planks like what he'd found. There was also a battered-looking door. He snorted – they'd been considering an actual door, ever since Luffy began showing a vague understanding of how the lock worked on pen. If he ever managed to unlock the pen and get out, there wasn't anything stopping him from falling over the side of the tree fort where they'd left a part of the wall open. The rope ladder usually hung there (and would again, after his finds today) but Lu was too small to use it. He'd fall before he'd climb, that much was for sure, and so a door was a good idea. They could have a key made for it in Foosha. Makino would know where to find someone.

 

He was contemplating an unbroken mirror in a pile of refuse that looked like it had all come from the same house, when he heard a shout. It was Sabo's voice – and he sounded upset.

 

Ace grabbed his pipe and tossed the mirror away, ignoring the tinkling sound of shattering glass as he vaulted an old sofa and began racing towards the direction the sound had come from. “Sabo?”

 

“Ace, stay back!”

 

Ace came to a halt between two piles of garbage and saw Sabo facing the same ugly man who had yelled at them back in High Town. His father, if Ace remembered correctly. His fists clenched. “Sabo--”

 

“No, Ace! Run--”

 

The man backhanded Sabo swiftly, but before Ace could leap forward in a rage, he found his arm being roughly grasped by one of the High Town guards. Before he could shake himself loose, he felt a very familiar pressure against the side of his head, and heard the click that accompanied it. “Shit!”

 

“Little boys shouldn't use such rough language,” said the guard languidly. “Mr Outlook, sir, your orders please?”

 

“I'll be taking my heir back home,” the man said in an oily voice, gripping Sabo's arm with one hand and stroking his moustache with the other. “You may do what you like with this... trash.”

 

Ace saw red, and he tightened his grip on his pipe. Before he could move though, Sabo held up a hand at him and shouted. “Stop, Ace!”

 

Ace froze, red draining from his vision. “Sabo?”

 

Sabo was staring at him pleadingly, a healthy dose of fear in his eyes. “Ace, they have guns,” he said shakily. “Don't fight them. Not like this.”

 

“If you think I'm gonna just stand here and--”

 

“Father!” Sabo cut Ace off and turned around as much as he could in the older man's grip. “Let him go. Please. I'll come quietly – I won't give you any trouble. I swear. Just let him leave here alive.”

 

Ace felt his heart in his chest give a vicious twist. “Sabo!”

 

“I mean it, Ace!” Sabo's head snapped back around and Ace found himself pinned in place by the power of Sabo's glare. “What would happen to Luffy if you died here? He needs you!”

 

“He needs you too,” Ace croaked. He couldn't believe this was actually happening.

 

“I'll be fine,” Sabo said calmly. His eyes burned into Ace's, almost begging him in their intensity. “Go back to Luffy, Ace. Everything will be okay.”

 

“How can you say that?” Somehow there was still air in Ace's chest, and he was still able to speak. He felt like the world around him was pressing in on him, trying to smother him. “Why...?”

 

Sabo gave him a grim smile, and then Outlook was dragging him off through the path the guards had blazed through the Grey Terminal. The guards were glaring at him, but Ace couldn't care less. He vaguely realized he still had one hand up, outstretched, as if it were trying to entreat Sabo into coming back, into saying this was all a joke, a mistake.

 

But it wasn't. Ace remembered that face, that disgusted expression as though he were constantly smelling something particularly foul. That was the man Sabo had claimed as his father back in the woods, however reluctantly, and Sabo had made his choice to go with him. To leave Luffy.

 

To leave him.

 

“I'd get lost, if I were you, kid,” said one of the guards, giving him a non-too-gentle whack with the butt of his rifle. Ace stumbled a bit, still lost and in shock. “He could turn around any moment and tell us to shoot ya.”

 

“Why wait?” snarked another one, and Ace forced his feet to start moving.

 

He pushed himself until he was at the edge of Grey Terminal, practically blinded by horror over what had just happened. A routine trip to Grey Terminal had just cost him his brother and oldest friend.

 

Ace tripped over a branch, something he hadn't done since he was at least six years old, and fell to his knees, holding himself up with his hands. Everything around him was blurry – he couldn't figure out why.

 

“Gotta get Luffy,” he breathed. Yes, he had to get his other brother. Had to make sure nothing happened to him, nothing like what just happened to Sabo. Then.... what?

 

He shook his head violently, and roughly ran his arm across his face, ridding himself of the water he found there (strange, it wasn't raining). He'd make sure Luffy was safe and then he'd plan. Sabo may have been taken hostage by that overgrown prick calling himself Sabo's father, but there was no way he was going to let that man keep Sabo. He needed Sabo. He needed Sabo to help raise Luffy. He couldn't do it alone, he knew that.

 

And Sabo was the first friend he'd ever had. Like _hell_ he was gonna let him get away.

 

“Just hang on, Sabo,” he muttered as he got to his feet and began to make his way through the brush he knew better than the back of his hand. “I'll get you out of there, I promise. Just wait for me.”

 

 

o0o

 

 

 

Marco watched with interest as the two new residents of the Moby Dick made their way on to the deck. Having recovered a fair bit from his ordeals, Ace and his little shadow had been moved from the infirmary to the cabin next to his – the cabin of their old second commander. It had been empty for a few years, but it was the best place to keep a temperamental hot head until he adjusted to being a member of the crew like his little brother. Or rather, until he gave in and became a member of the crew.

 

It had only been a few days since his release from the tender loving care of nurse Whiskey. There were still a few trace remains of the fire he'd set during his hallucination-induced attack and Marco had caught him staring at the charred marks Blamenco had yet to replace, looking guilty – until he saw he was being watched. Then it was scowl, glare, growl, stomp, 'LUFFY!' and back to their room they'd go.

 

Speaking of Luffy though... that kid was a card. One would almost swear the youngster had been born and raised aboard the Moby. The kid was constantly escaping his big brother's protective eye and zooming around the feet of whoever happened to be around. He smiled and waved at absolutely everyone and nothing fazed him. Not even Blenheim pulling a giant ladder out of his cheek sacks had stunned him. The word 'COOL!' was heard being shouted numerous times a day, from all over the ship.

 

On this particular morning, approximately one week to the day Whiskey had released Ace from the dungeon that was the infirmary, the tiny hammer let go of his brother's hand and raced over to Marco, peering up at his location in the crow's nest. “Hi, Marco!”

 

If looks could kill – and if he weren't immortal – the one Ace was shooting would have got him good. As it was, it amused him instead. Marco waved back and let loose a flood of blue fire, transforming his arms into wings and pushing off the edge of the nest. “Hey brat,” he replied as he touched down. He nodded congenially at the scowling man behind the kid. “Older brat.”

 

“I'm not a brat!” Luffy insisted, a matching scowl appearing on his chubby cheeks. “And Ace's not a brat too!”

 

“Either.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Ace is not a brat, either,” Marco repeated calmly.

 

“Ooohhhh....” Luffy's eyes were round with comprehension. “I don't get it.”

 

Or not.

 

“What do you want?” Ace snapped.

 

Marco raised his eyes to stare at the fierce young man. It was easy to tell from his tense stance and twitching fingers that Ace didn't feel comfortable being out in the open. Or perhaps it was in interacting with Marco. Either way, Marco felt a need to try and reduce some of the obvious stress that Ace was displaying. “Just returning a greeting.”

 

“Sure,” Ace muttered.

 

“But I was hoping to have a chance to talk to you,” Marco continued. He crouched down to Luffy's level. “I think Thatch has some cookies he's been hiding from me. Think you can go and force him to share?”

 

Little Luffy grinned and nodded hard enough to make his head bounce up and down like a yo-yo. “I can do it! I'll find the cookies!” He then turned to his brother. “I can go, right, Ace?”

 

Ace stared at his little brother before glaring at Marco. He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, as though trying to ward off a headache. “Yeah. Okay. But only go to the galley, all right? If you leave it, I want you back here where I can see you.”

 

“Okay!”

 

Marco watched Ace watch his little brother disappear, and had to hide a smile at the look of protective concern that Ace just couldn't prevent himself from showing. When Ace's gaze switched back to him however, it was like watching a pair of silvery doors slam shut in front of him.

 

“What do you want?” Ace demanded, the scowl the Whitebeard crew was starting to suspect was his default setting, automatically coming to the forefront.

 

Marco grinned. The ups and downs of this kid's behaviour was like dealing with an emotional roller coaster. It was interesting, not knowing what to expect at any given moment. “I just wanted to talk to you for a moment. See how you're doing. How's the meds Whiskey gave you for that sleep thing she mentioned?”

 

“It's called narcolepsy,” the teen snapped. “And the last time I checked, medical records were supposed to be confidential.”

 

“That's true enough,” Marco allowed, deciding not to mention that that privilege only extended to the crew. Commanders were given access to all medical records at all times, so they could make mission recruitment decisions. “I haven't seen you pass out on deck though, so can I assume they're working?”

 

If the teen had fur, no doubt it would be bristling like an angry alley cat's. “You can assume whatever you want.”

 

Marco chuckled. “I suppose so,” he drawled. “I see Luffy's settling in just fine.”

 

There was silence for a moment, then, unbelievably, there was a small snort of reluctant amusement. “Luffy always settles fine, no matter where he is.”

 

And therein lay the difference. Marco had no doubt that Ace was confident that Luffy would be safe with them – Marco knew the Whitebeard's had a reputation for being safe for civilians, particularly women and children. And though Luffy was technically a pirate, regardless of his age, he was still a child which made him immune to the wrath of Whitebeard.

 

Was Ace under the impression that he was not? Marco watched Ace stare out at the sea, a faint scowl still on his face, arms folded in a self-defensive manner. Ever since waking up, the teen's temper had been kept to a low simmer, only boiling over whenever someone breached his personal bubble, or when Luffy appeared to be threatened. He was suspicious of all kind behaviours, as though he were waiting for a hand to slap him instead of reach out to him.

 

Marco found his behaviour to be confounding. If Ace were like this all the time, Luffy would be far more paranoid and hesitant among so many strangers. And his crew – his crew were amazingly protective of their captain and his little rubber brother – and hadn't that been a _hoot_ , having the rest of the Whitebeards finding out about Luffy's devil powers when the brat had scampered halfway up the mast and then fell. Vista had lunged to reach him but had fallen short – only to watch, bug-eyed, as Luffy bounced like a rubber ball along the deck until he hit the cabin.

 

Shaking his head, Marco turned his thoughts back to the enigma before him. “I've been meaning to ask you a question for a while now.”

 

Ace shot him a glare out of the corner of his eye. “Nothing's stopping you.”

 

Marco shrugged. “Okay. Why did you bring your little brother onto the Grand Line with you?” He folded his own arms, leaning back against the railing. “You're so protective of him. You had to know that was a dangerous choice to make.”

 

He watched, fascinated, as Ace turned red with apparent rage, muscled arms trembling as he struggled to repress what Marco had been convinced should have been an impressive temper tantrum. Instead, the teen took in a shaky breath, breathed out, repeated himself and then, gritting his teeth, replied, “I wasn't going to leave him behind. He was barely out of the toddler stage. Who the hell was gonna look after him?”

 

“There were no adults around to watch him?”

 

There was another snort. Then a laugh, but it was a dark laugh, not a trace of amusement in it. “Adults. Yeah, right. No, _commander_ ,” he practically spit the word out like it left a bad taste in his mouth. “There weren't a lot of adults there that knew how to take care of a kid, much less one like Luffy.”

 

“Dusty mentioned that you raised Luffy,” Marco commented idly after a few minutes to let the kid calm down. “I didn't realize he meant that literally.”

 

There was a pause, as though Ace were trying to figure out how much he could trust Marco with. Then there was a huff of released breath, and the teen shrugged. “He was left with me and my.... guardians, when he was eight months old. I was ten.” Ace was glaring out at the water now. “Those idiots thought the best way to deal with a crying baby was to shove him in a box and use ear plugs so they could sleep through the night.”

 

There was a moment where Marco thought he'd heard wrong. “Excuse me?”

 

“Yeah, real winners of society, right? Still, it wasn't really their fault. It's Gramps' fault for thinking bandits knew anything about child care.”

 

Bandits?

 

....Okay, suddenly Ace's mood swings, and trust issues were starting to make a little sense. “So I assume you just took over his care?”

 

“......More or less. I moved out with... I took Luffy with me when I moved out of there and just took over since they didn't even know enough to watch him when he was outside. Stupid idiots nearly let Lu fall down the ravine almost a dozen times.”

 

Marco shook his head, not sure he was capable of understanding or completely believing Ace's words. But the grudging way in which Ace spoke, the anger in his tone and the clenched fists when he said the word 'ravine' made it hard to not believe him. “How old were you?”

 

“...almost eleven,” came the reluctant response.

 

As Marco took that in and tried to comprehend the idea of a ten year old (nearly eleven) recognizing the dangers that adults (and _bandits_ at that) did not and making the decision to move out on his own (at _ten_ ) and take an eight month old baby with him, he noticed Ace suddenly tense up, as though he had just realized how much he'd let loose.

 

“I'm gonna find Luffy,” he growled, and pushed away from the railing, heading for the galley at a rapid pace.

 

Either he was anxious to get away from Marco and his questions, or Marco's questions and his subsequent answers had reminded him how much trouble his little brother was capable of getting into, which had prompted the urge to go and find him. Marco was willing to bet more on the latter. Like any parent, even one as young as Ace, the teen had found it hard to resist talking about his 'kid'.

 

Marco smiled. There so many ways he could use that to get into the teen's head to try and get him to open up. After all, the sooner he did that, the sooner Ace would see that the Moby Dick was the best place for him and the tiny brat to be.

 

Bad choices or not, misgivings or no, Marco liked Ace and Luffy. A lot. He knew his father did too, as well as most of the commanders who had met them. Ace would make a great addition to the crew, and Luffy was a breath of fresh air.

 

There were still some things Marco wanted to know, and settle before giving one hundred percent approval, but all in all, he was starting to understand why the Spade crew was so enamoured with their captain. The kid was young, but he was more responsible than most teens his age – hell, most adults too. Only seventeen, but with the air of a man in his mid-twenties or more. It was unique.

 

With a small grin, Marco decided to trail after the brats. Maybe Luffy had found Thatch's stash of cookies after all.

 

 

End Chapter 9

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Title:** Ten Years Difference, 10/?

 **Author:** Stormy1x2

 **Word Count:** 6030

 **Notes:** Oh boy.... look, no spoilers. Just read the end notes before you review me about the obvious, okay? I've worked for so long on this chapter i've started to dream about it (almost a year – I had this part and the next part actually done before the bulk of the rest of the fic) and I'm finally posting it. With big reservations. Read the end notes. I'm babbling now.

 

Okay, here we go...

 

o0o

_Ten Years Difference - Chapter 10_

o0o

 

 

Ace had no idea how long it had taken him to reach the bandit hut. He had stumbled more during the trip than he had in almost his entire life of roaming the mountains, and Dadan had actually shrieked for Mogra and Dogra when he finally set foot inside the door. The cuts and scrapes were nothing new, but the bloodless, dead-eyed expression he must have still had on his face had scared the shit out of the bandits.

 

As he normally did, Mogra grabbed the disinfectant while Dogra helped Ace out of his t-shirt. Mogra began dabbing the cuts gently. “You don't look nearly as bad as you normally do to come to us for treatment,” he said hesitantly.

 

Ace couldn't speak in reply to that. It was true. He was practically in one piece. Such a thing had never really happened before.

 

Dogra tentatively set down a spare t-shirt of Ace's that had most likely been left behind before their move out to the tree house. “Are Sabo and Luffy okay?” he asked, a rather brave and bold move for someone who had been mildly terrified of Ace ever since the boy – as a toddler – had bitten his arm hard enough to require stitches. He still had a semi-circle scar as a reminder. It ached when it rained.

 

Ace ignored him, his mind still whirling from shock, but his breath was coming easier, and he was beginning to calm down – well, as much as he could, without Sabo there to talk him down, or Luffy to cheer him up. Ace swallowed back his upset, his rage, his fear – all of it. Then he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Then once more, before speaking. “They're fine. For now.” And that was the end of it, at least until Dogra and Mogra finished their doctoring.

 

Now bandaged and sitting with a cup of tea in his hands (a dirty cup, but the gesture was appreciated and eh, they tried), Ace managed to get his story out. “So now Sabo's stuck with that asshole, and our tree house is still in pieces and Luffy is in Foosha.”

 

He took a deep breath and guzzled down the tea. Mogra took the cup from him and moved to the sink to toss it in with the others. He returned with an apple that he handed to the boy. “Now, now, Ace. You need to relax for a minute. At least all three of you are safe for the moment.”

 

“Sabo's not safe!” Ace snarled, and chomped viciously on the apple. He swallowed it whole and continued. “He left his parents when he was five and happily lived in a trash heap. Does it sound like his parents were fun to live with?”

 

“No,” Dogra said, joining the conversation and holding out his hands in a placating gesture. “But his father came looking for his heir. That means if nothing else, Sabo's still alive. A dead heir is useless to a noble.”

 

Ace gave a reluctant nod, finishing the apple – core and all.

 

“You gonna go after him?” Dadan broke into the conversation, staring at him with a strange look on her face. To Ace, it seemed one part proud mixed with two parts frustrated, served in a dish of annoyance. “Do you have any idea what you're up against?”

 

Ace glared at her, fists clenched by his side. “I don't care what I'm up against,” he snapped out hotly. “Sabo doesn't want to be with them, and Luffy and I need him more. So I have to get him out of there!”

 

Dadan set down her saki cup and got to her feet in a surprisingly quick move for such a large woman. Before Ace knew what was happening, she had grabbed him by the arm and was slamming him into the wall, holding him up with her forearm. On a normal child, that would have been a debilitating, perhaps even paralyzing move. On Ace though, it just confused him enough to freeze into place, staring into Dadan's angry eyes. “Have you learned nothing of this place yet, brat?” she snarled right back at him. “What do you think you can do for Sabo?”

 

“I can help him escape again!” Ace gripped her forearm with his hands, a subtle threat that he could snap her limb like a twig if he wanted to. He didn't necessarily want to – old hag or not, the woman had nonetheless kept him alive until he had been able to fend for himself. But he wasn't going to allow her a chance to hurt him like so many others did in the past.

 

Dadan either didn't recognize the threat, or didn't care. She slammed him against the wall one more time. Ace's head thumped against the wooden slats, and a curse escaped him as he felt a lump start to swell. Dadan ignored his swearing and leaned forward, saki-infused cigarette breath wafting over his face, making him gag. “And if you got him away, then his father would just come search the forest with those soldiers again. He'd have you shot. They'd shoot all of us, Luffy too. Is that what you want to happen?”

 

There was a moment when Ace thought he was actually going to be sick, but from the vision her words described rather than her breath. “They wouldn't dare! They know shitty gramps lives here--”

 

“First off, he lives in Foosha, brat. And that makes no difference. The military bows their dog-like heads to the power held by the nobility of Goa. If Sabo wasn't found in the forest, their next stop would be Foosha, and one by one, they'd shoot down anyone who stood in the way of him retrieving his property.” Dadan shook Ace again, but didn't slam his head against the wall. “Makino, the mayor, the guy who sells the fish at the docks – and Luffy too. Nobles don't care who they hurt, brat, and they have far more power then they have any right to. And you would lead them right to us!”

 

Ace gasped as she finally pulled her considerable weight back, and the pressure from her forearm against his throat eased. She stalked away from him as he dropped to the floor, reaching one hand up to massage his throat gingerly. Mogra scuttled forward to check the back of his head, while Dogra ran to the kitchen, muttering something about tea with honey helping sore throats. “Old hag--”

 

“Stupid brat--”

 

“I have to try,” Ace coughed out, finally giving up and hunching over. He held up a hand to Dadan who looked like she was about to stomp over again to repeat her previous actions. “I know, Dadan. But maybe we can, I don't know....” His eyes darted from side to side, as though searching for a clear answer to his dilemma. One that could be found behind empty bottles of saki, or piles of broken and dirty dishes.

 

It didn't look promising.

 

It was Dogra who surprisingly came up with a suggestion. “If Sabo's father believed Sabo was dead, he wouldn't search for him or us. Right?” He glanced at Mogra. “Nobles love their money. They wouldn't waste it paying soldiers for something that would be worthless in the long run.”

 

Ace blinked and stared at Dogra.

 

Mogra rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Tracker is still on the far side of the island. He would be the closest to get a message to Swipe.”

 

Dadan was still glaring but something in her eyes had mellowed. She was silent for a long moment, long enough to make Ace start tapping his foot in agitation. Finally, giving a shrug, she wiggled her bottle of rum, testing how much was left. “Swipe has the right connections,” she said finally, in a way that signified acknowledgement. There was another long pause. She heaved a huge sigh. “Where's Diego?”

 

Ace blinked again as a young man dashed into the room from the kitchen where he'd been with the other bandits and saluted Dadan. He didn't recognize him, but then, aside from Mogra and Dogra, Ace didn't know most of the bandits. For as long as he could remember, he was out in the forest all day, while the bandits.... did whatever things bandits did. For the longest time, Ace was certain that meant nothing but drinking.

 

The bandits ranged in age from mid-twenties to Dadan who was ancient as far as Ace was concerned but Sabo had once speculated to be in her mid-fifties, possibly older. This new arrival looked to be on the younger age of the spectrum.

 

“Boss?”

 

“We need a name from the guards who took Sabo,” Dadan said, scribbling something on a scrap piece of paper she had pulled from a place Ace resolutely did not know. She shot Ace a stern look. “If you have a noble name, finding out where you live is child's play for Tracker.”

 

The man nodded, accepted the paper and disappeared out the door. The entire time, he didn't make a single sound against the wooden planks, and even the door, normally creaky and whiny with age, fell shut with a whisper.

 

Ace shook his head roughly, not understanding what fucking rabbit hole he'd just dropped into. He stared at the bandits with wide eyes. “ _What the hell_?”

 

“Shut up, brat,” Dadan said roughly, grabbing a new bottle of rum from a crate near the corner she called hers. “It's not a guarantee or nothing. If you wanna save brat number three, you can't do that without information. What were you going to do, run down to the city and start banging on doors until you find the guy?”

 

Ace's throat worked furiously and his cheeks burned, but he didn't answer. He hadn't even thought that far ahead, but yeah, that did sound like something he'd do.

 

Dadan bit the stopper off the bottle and guzzled back a huge swallow of rum. “People like that, the nobility, they don't answer their own doors,” she said after, wiping her mouth with a pass of her forearm. “Those guards were from the wall, and you only know what his father looks like. You'd never find him.”

 

“.....what are... I mean.... “ Ace stopped and shook his head, blinking rapidly. “You're g-gonna _help_ me?” He stared at her, desperately and a little crazily. “Why?”

 

Dadan sneered at him. “Good question. I don't know why I should bother,” she snapped. “You're worthless as a bandit – can't get you to do a damn thing around here when there's dishes to be done and clothes to be washed--”

 

“But you are. Why? Why are you doing this?” Ace cut her off, a bit desperately. “You were going to practically kill me a few minutes ago and now you're... what _are_ you doing?”

 

Dadan grunted with annoyance at the unsure tone of his voice and stood up straight. “I am the head of the Dadan bandits, brat,” she hissed at him. Despite the massive intake of alcohol, she was rock steady and her eyes focused on his with laser-like intensity. “I have done things you wouldn't believe. There is a reason that Garp chose my clan to raise you idiots instead of throwing us into jail.” She pointed a finger at him. “We may not be as physically strong as you, but bandits have strengths all their own. Or do you think we sit up here, day after day, doing nothing at all?”

 

The other bandits were gathered around her, watching Ace carefully. Mogra paused in gathering up his medical supplies, giving Ace a blank look. Dogra had his usual grip on his ever-present rifle, mouth firm for once.

 

Ace's eyes darted from one to another. He had always thought of the bandits as a joke.

 

They were weak. Not a single one of them could care for Ace as a baby – they'd had to do it in teams once they realized that Ace must have inherited a fair portion of his father's monster-like strength. Dadan herself had been scared of his teeth for the same reason Dogra was. The bandits never followed through on any of their threats that they made, and they never seemed to do very much as it was. Ace had deemed them unworthy of his attention and settled for ignoring them for the most part, terrorizing them when he felt like it, and leaving his sole contribution to the clan in the form of providing meat for dinner. He liked to hunt, and Dadan was a competent if not decent cook. It had worked out well, and that was the extent of what Ace thought their relationship had, and would always consist of.

 

And now he was seeing something different. The way Dadan was talking, the way they were muttering and scheming behind her... Ace was actually seeing the bandits as... well, _bandits_. He didn't even know the names she'd mentioned. And he certainly didn't know what they did all day. He knew that some of them disappeared each day, sometimes for days at a time, but he thought it was because they were drunk in the woods somewhere, or hiding from Dadan's screeching.

 

“But what are you doing? And why?” Ace could scarcely believe what he was seeing or hearing. He gazed up at what society would call his foster mother, comprehension gone.

 

“If you just wanted to get the brat back, that'd be murder-suicide,” Dadan scoffed at him. “I've been around too long to get offed by a pair of brats and a noble.”

 

“But planning a death scene....” Mogra let out a quiet chuckle. “Well, let's just say it's a bandit speciality. How many times have _you_ died, Elmer?”

 

A bandit with thick black glasses poked out from behind Dadan. “Uh... three times, sir. Once in Goa, once on Apricot Island, and once in Edge Town.”

 

“Which is why he's not allowed on anything except dump runs and backup anymore,” said Dogra in an attempt to be helpfully informative.

 

“I only died once,” Dadan said dreamily. The bottle was almost empty. Again. “But it was beautiful!”

 

“Never saw an explosion quite like it, Boss,” praised another bandit, name unknown.

 

Not knowing how much of this he was supposed to believe or not, Ace chose to skip over the things Dadan might have done in the past in order to focus on what she could do right now. His brain recalled one of the first names. “Who's Tracker?”

 

Dadan scowled at Ace ignoring her noble death scene, and tipped her bottle back, leaving Mogra to answer the question. “Mah... Tracker is the city expert. He knows every single street, where every business is, hours of operations, delivery days, and patrol schedules.”

 

Dogra nodded. “If he has a name, he can usually find a location within a few hours if necessary. But since this is a quiet job, it might take him a day or two.”

 

“But--”

 

“Mah, mah, Ace. Sabo isn't in danger. You said he came for his heir. That means he needs Sabo alive.” Mogra tentatively placed a hand on Ace's shoulder. “We can find out where he is. You just need to exercise a little patience. And uh...” he cocked his head at Ace. “Where _is_ Luffy, again?”

 

“In Foosha with Makino,” Ace said quietly, mind still whirling. “I gotta go get him.”

 

“Do you?” Dadan asked him warily. Her empty bottle was quickly replaced with a full one by Mr Name Unknown. She went to bite out the rubber stopper only to hit glass – Name Unknown had already opened it for her. She spit out a glass chunk and eyed Ace blearily. “You don't need him here for this. He's safer there.”

 

“But--” Ace cut himself off with a curse, choosing to turn his head and scowl at the ground instead of Dadan. She was right. He didn't like it, but she was right. For now, Luffy would be safe with Makino. The only person Party's Bar was connected to was the shitty gramps. Even if the worst, as outlined by Dadan, should happen, there would be no one to connect it to Foosha, no reason for guards to go hunting past bandit territory. “........ yeah. You're right.”

 

Dadan froze. “Huh?”

 

Mogra chuckled again. “Ace just agreed with you, Boss.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Dogra covered his mouth with his hands, trying to hide his smile. “It won't take Diego long to get word to Tracker,” he said. “I'm gonna follow behind to cover his return, just in case.” He slipped out the door, rifle in hand.

 

“Huh?”

 

Ace was exhausted and could feel sleep pulling at him, but he didn't want to give in. He wanted to wait for Diego, whoever the hell he was, to come back. He wanted to know what this Tracker person knew. He wanted to know how they could get info from the guards. He wanted....

 

o0o

 

Mogra blinked in surprise as Ace suddenly keeled over, fast asleep. He waved at a bandit to bring a pillow, and he retrieved a blanket himself, putting it on the boy with a small smile. Ace was obviously exhausted. Stress and worry could wear you out just as much as a full day's worth of training, Mogra knew that from experience, and despite the front he put up to the world, Ace was still a child. One that had to grow up far too soon, but a child nonetheless.

 

Mogra hated that they had all been told to raise Ace with tough love. Garp had ingrained into their very soul – via a flurry of Fist of Learnings (which were weaker than Fist of Justices but stronger than Fist of Loves) – that that was the only way Ace would survive. The entire world wanted the boy dead, he'd declared, and Mogra had looked at the tiny baby being handed to them, smiling sweetly in his sleep.

 

How could anyone want such an innocent thing dead? It was beyond Mogra's comprehension, and he and Mogra had sworn with their boss that they would raise Ace to be tough and independent. And while he liked to think they had succeeded in raising a hell-bent, destructive, lethal terror on two legs, a small part of him still remembered three month old Ace beaming up at him toothlessly, waving his small hands for attention. Attention they'd been forced to deny.

 

That had been a very long time ago.

 

Then Luffy had come, and they'd had to start over, once again on Garp's orders. Mogra respected the man, and feared him greatly, but at the same time, a part of him truly hated the man.

 

Mogra shook his head, and tucked the blanket around Ace. The boy had never wanted their help before – indeed, had never even asked what they were capable of. Irregardless of that, until the day he set sail, he was one of theirs, and they would stand by their own.

 

And if doing so meant feigning the death of a noble-born boy with blonde hair and gap-toothed grin, well, then that was what they would do. Mogra nodded to himself and went to see what was available to make for a late lunch.

 

In the middle of the floor, Dadan was still staring unseeingly at the wall, shock over Ace agreeing with her for the first time ever sending her into a mental feedback loop.

 

“Huh?”

 

 

o0o

 

Izou had finally gotten his way.

 

Ace and Luffy had been on board the Moby Dick for nearly three and a half weeks (not including the week Ace had spent unconscious), and the okama had been begging to redecorate the room Ace and Luffy were staying in. As Ace barely left the room save for meals, the bathroom, and to supervise Luffy when he went wandering, it was hard to pin the teenager down for his permission.

 

So Izou did what he normally did. He waited until they left for breakfast, and then swept inside with an armful of fabric, followed by his crew loaded down with various other materials and items he had picked out.

 

After all, he was a pirate. It was always easier to beg for forgiveness than it was to ask for and get permission.

 

Luffy had stopped short upon their return after their meal and let out a squeal that could be heard on deck. The room, once bare save for a bed with a second cot shoved in for Luffy, and an old desk, had been given a quick coat of bright yellow paint (Izou was counting on Luffy's enthusiasm in convincing Ace to let Izou's men in one more time for a second coat), with dark blue trim. Bright blue shelves lined Luffy's side and the few books and toys they had managed to scrounge up for the kid had been placed on them. The shelves on Ace's side for the moment were empty.

 

Izou had cornered Rakuyo earlier in the week to touch up and repaint an old treasure chest so Luffy could put his precious things in. Rakuyo had painted it a nice light brown with gold trim. The lock was there for decoration but the inner mechanism had been removed – Izou had his doubts about Luffy being able to keep track of a key at his age. Adorable but feckless.

 

Izou had found a brightly colored, spiral-shaped rug in one of the storage bins he kept in the bowels of the ship. A mix of blues, purples and pinks, it was big enough to throw in the middle of the room and still reach Ace's bed on the left – and the brand new bed Fossa and Blamenco had made for Luffy on the right.

 

Brand new sheets, covers and pillow cases of various shades of red for Luffy made up his bed, and Izou had picked orange for Ace. It didn't quite match his hat, but being a darker shade, it still looked good in the room.

 

Izou wanted to find some better curtains then the plain tan ones that most of the cabins had, and he was definitely going to replace the rickety desk, but the bulk of the work was done and it looked warm and inviting.

 

Luffy adored it. Ace had gaped at it for a minute, before turning around and yelling something about privacy and Izou's blatant invasion of it. But as Izou airily waved him off and prepared to leave, Ace reluctantly said that he liked it too, and 'thank you for doing this for Luffy'. It obviously pained Ace to say such things, but Izou hadn't been expecting anything at all, and so it was easy for him to smile brightly at the teen in reply.

 

“This doesn't mean I'm a part of this crew!” Ace hissed, trying not to let Luffy hear him.

 

“I know, darling. But at least this way you have a nicer place to sulk, hmm?”

 

Izou swept out of the room with a satisfied smile at the sound of a low growl coming from the teen. He was just so fun to tease.

 

Izou couldn't wait until Ace gave in.

 

 

 

 

 

o0o

 

They were having yet another party. They threw parties for a lot of things, but commander birthdays always got their own, and Fossa just happened to have his in the same month as Blenheim, Kingdew and Blamenco. That was a lot of parties. And Thatch would still have to prepare for Blamenco's the next week.

 

Speaking of Thatch, he had given Marco a mission and Marco was determined to fulfill it. However, handing a bowl of soup to an angry fire-brat that ate far less than he should have (and for what reason, Marco couldn't fathom) kinda felt like trying to hand feed a lion at a zoo. The wary way Ace had stared at him before he'd given up and set the bowl on the railing, the way Ace had circled around him to get to it, to sniff the contents and then pull it to himself like he was afraid someone was going to take it.

 

It was oddly like taming a feral animal. Only this one had a tame cub. Marco made a mental note to tell Thatch that comparison. No doubt the cook would take it and run with it. And speaking of tame cubs... “It's astonishing, the difference in the kid,” Marco said idly, watching as Luffy pulled a laughing Haruta over to the buffet tables.

 

Ace's eyes didn't leave his little brother as he tentatively tested the soup Marco had brought him. “This is how he always acts.”

 

“Maybe when you're awake and healthy, but when you were unconscious?” Marco shook his head, recalling the scared looks, the flinches, and the hesitant obedience when gently asked to do something. “Luffy was downright shy and retiring – even scared.”

 

That got Ace to lift his head, and he shot a slitted, disbelieving look at Marco.

 

“All true. The only time his real personality came out was during the visit with your old Spade crew.”

 

Ace sent a silent snarl in Marco's direction. “They're not my _old_ crew.”

 

Marco didn't particularly want to open that can of worms just then. He nodded deferentially, watched Ace's fur settle so to speak, and moved on. “Anyway, Luffy's personality does a one-eighty when you're not around to reassure him.” He winked at Ace, watching with amusement as the younger man's face flushed. “You should take that as an incentive to stay in good health.”

 

Ace didn't say anything, but his gaze went a bit distant as he looked in the direction of the party. It took a few minutes of waiting, but Marco had a level of patience that most saints would envy, and so he was rewarded with Ace eventually speaking. “When I got hurt before... he had Dusty.”

 

Marco raised an eyebrow. “Dusty's on the same level as you?”

 

Ace shrugged. “Not exactly.” He chewed his upper lip for a moment before continuing. “I... gave Dusty a job, when he joined.”

 

“So I heard,” Marco chuckled. “The babysitter, right?”

 

“Kinda.” Ace shrugged again. “He was my First Mate but I told him his biggest job was protecting Luffy when I couldn't. Doing whatever it took – lying, cheating, stealing, fighting, manipulating – but keeping him safe and happy and as worry-free as possible.” Then he frowned at Marco and turned his attention back to the soup in his hands.

 

Marco mulled that over for a while while shifting his attention to the party.

 

Haruta had apparently challenged Luffy to a soup-swallowing contest. Marco watched with amusement as she raised the steaming bowl to her lips while Luffy simply swallowed the whole bowl. Vista shouted and was trying to pry the kids mouth open while Rakuyo reached in for the bowl, screaming something about choking.

 

A quick side glance to Ace saw the teen watching his brother with a resigned expression. It was obviously not the first time he had seen his brother eat the serving dishes. The bowl came free with a pop and Luffy cheered that he had won while Haruta gulped down water for her burning throat and Vista and Rakuyo took deep breaths of relief.

 

“So I have another question for you,” Marco said calmly, still watching the entertainment before them.

 

Ace flicked an eye to him and then back to the group. “What?”

 

Marco shrugged. “When do you plan on giving in and taking up Pop's mark?

 

It was like an electrical charge shot through Ace's spine as the boy abruptly straightened and turned anger-filled eyes on him. “What?”

 

“You heard me.” Marco stared him down. “You've been on this ship with us for just over a month now. Luffy's practically adopted everyone on board. The only one holding out here is you.” Marco pushed off the railing and faced Ace squarely. “You could have left at the last island we stocked up on, but you didn't. Your crew would follow you if you decided to leave, all you have to do is give them a call on the Den Den Mushi. And you're resourceful enough – you'd find another ship if you really wanted to.”

 

Ace looked pale in the flickering candle light, freckles standing out starkly in contrast to the darkness that covered his eyes. His fists were clenched, and he was trembling faintly.

 

“You haven't been attacked or harmed, even though you seem to think we're trying to poison you – and yet you trust that the food we give Luffy is okay for him to eat. You growl at everyone but I've seen you help some members of the crew with basic chores and other things. Should I go on?”

 

Ace bared his teeth. He had oddly sharp-looking canines.

 

 _Damned if you do, damned if you don't_ , and Marco decided to give that one last push. Damned it was.

 

“You know we want the two of you – and of course, the rest of your crew – to stay with us. Why don't you just make it official, get the mark and join us with Pops?”

 

 

o0o

 

Ace was finding it difficult to draw an even breath. His lungs felt like they were seizing up with every word that came out of Marco's mouth. The final question though, that hit dead on to a part of Ace he had been trying to keep under wraps ever since waking up on the Moby Dick. His anger simmered up, nearly at the boiling point and he finally burst out with a question he had been somewhat dying to ask for weeks now.

 

“Why the hell do you call him father?” Ace spat before he could stop himself. “What's wrong with using the title of what he is? He's your captain.”

 

Marco looked at him with a strange expression that Ace couldn't identify. For a brief moment, it almost felt like Marco was showing... pity? Or something? Ace couldn't tell, but it pissed him off.

 

As did Marco's answer.

 

“We call him father, and he calls us his sons.” Marco closed his eyes, and Ace watched with (jealous?) anger as the Phoneix's face smiled softly at the thought. After a pause, Marco looked directly at Ace. “It's just a word... but it makes us happy.”

 

Those words. _Always_ it came down to those. Fucking. _Word_ _s_ _._

 

Father. Son. Both of those words ripped a hole in him deep inside every time he heard them and it was no different now than it ever was.

 

Despite his internal vow to control himself, despite Luffy being a few dozen meters away, unaware of anything happening to his older brother, the lid on his barely-controlled temper finally came off.

 

“Like fucking hell!”

 

Marco blinked wide-eyed at him.

 

Ace growled, unable to repress the anger and sarcasm from his tone as he hissed, “You claim to accept everyone as a brother...” He trailed off for a moment, a broken laugh squeezing past the hurt and bitterness that had dwelled inside him for years. “You can't actually accept _everyone_. It's not fucking _possible_. I _know_.”

 

It was a lie. They couldn't. They wouldn't. Ace knew that what applied to others, never applied to him. It was something he'd known growing up with bandits who frequently said they wouldn't care if he died or didn't come back. It was something he'd been told by countless people in Edge Town when he'd asked the question. It was something he'd been warned about countless times by idiot Marines he'd fought who hadn't realized exactly who they were fighting.

 

Hell, it was something even his moronic grandfather told him without words when Ace asked and was given the vague answer that he had to find out himself. It was a fact of life, the same way rain fell down, and the sky was blue.

 

Ace could never truly be accepted. He was a living sin. He should never have been born.

 

He glared up at Marco, daring him to say otherwise.

 

Marco stared right back at him. “Try me.”

 

o0o

 

 

This was not going exactly the way Marco had planned. He had wanted to drop off the bowl of stew Thatch had given him for Ace – additionally fortified with extra meat, spices and other additives because the brat seemed to be losing weight with his paranoid stubbornness and both Thatch and Marco had been starting to get worried about it – and see if he could strike up another conversation, maybe convince the guy to go back with him to the party that had been thrown for Fossa's birthday. Ace had stayed permanently planted against the railing, the usual spot he took during the gatherings the Whitebeards tended to have at night.

 

Simple. Yeah, right.

 

Luffy had spent most of the night safely and happily ensconced between a protective Haruta and a very indulgent Vista who kept acquiescing to the little one's requests for more meat (well, until Luffy started eating the dishes, that is), but Ace continued to stay distanced from them, wary at best, afraid at worst. It was so odd that he seemed to accept that Luffy would be okay with them but he would not.

 

No, not odd. It was damn strange.

 

Food seemed to be the best ice-breaker for the fire-user, and Marco hadn't thought twice about accepting the enriched food from Thatch to give to Ace, but he hadn't expected to deal with this as a result. A conversation, yes, but he hadn't expected this question from Ace.

 

It had caught him off-guard a little – asking about Oyaji? Why they called him father? It was a little odd. But Ace was still pale, still had a desperate look in his eyes, something that told Marco the question wasn't frivolous at all, and that he should answer it before Ace gave into the temper tantrum he was not-so-obviously holding back.

 

“ _It's just a word.... but it makes us happy!”_

 

He had no idea that by saying that, he'd be opening a particular can of worms – unleashing something from Ace that had obviously been long-festering. It had been simply that dead-yet-still-enraged look on Ace's face, the look in his eye that had made him quirk an eyebrow as if to ask, 'why?'

 

“And you claim to accept _everyone_ as a brother....”

 

Marco had taken slight offence at the brat's tone, like he believed wholeheartedly that Marco was lying. He'd growled out the statement/question in a way that sounded like he was about to erupt from his sitting position straight into a confrontation. Still, he'd been prepared to gloss over whatever the kid spat out – he was trying to start a fight, that was patently obvious – until Ace had then growled about betting they wouldn't accept everyone.

 

Marco had slipped up there. He'd dared the kid to try him.

 

Which brought them to this moment. This particular moment, where Ace was glaring at him with wild eyes, his mouth a thin angry line in his otherwise handsome face.

 

“So who are you, Ace?” Marco rubbed his nose and decided he might as well keep going. It had already come this far. “Who are you, that you think we couldn't possibly accept you, especially since it's been made patently obvious that we've already accepted your brother?”

 

He watched as the brat sneered at him, lowering his hat until Marco could barely make out the two narrowed slits spitting fire at him. “Luffy's a kid, and I know the Whitebeard pirates don't hurt women or children. Everyone knows that.”

 

“And you?” Marco asked again, genuinely confused and curious, insult and anger dissipating in their wake. There was something familiar about the brat in the way he was facing him down, the determination and the guts to not back down. Something in the back of his head was poking at him repeatedly. “Who are you?”

 

There was a vicious snarl more animal than human. With fascination, he watched as Ace gave him a jagged, wolf-like smile that was painful to look at and Marco found himself holding his breath.

 

“My real name is Gol D Ace. My father is... _was_... Gol D Roger.”

 

 

o0o

_End part 10_

o0o

 

**End Notes:**

Okay, so I'm really nervous about this part. I actually had the 3 /4's of it written MONTHS ago – but I've been paranoid about it. I've read it a thousand times, changed things, rewrote entire chunks – and something still feels off. I know a better writer would be able to figure it out, and I'm sorry I can't write it the way I want to, but I did my absolute best and it has all the elements that I wanted/needed to get in there. It just feels a bit choppy. Ya know? I knew I needed a time skip but it's so hard to write one to refer back to and not actually just write out the time you're skipping.... that made sense in my head, I know it did.

 

Anyway, I have part 11 almost halfway done as well (you guys are truly an inspiration – I'm not joking when I say reviews fire me up – look how quick you got this!). I hope you enjoyed this chapter, mishmash and all, and I really hope you continue to enjoy the fic as a whole.

 

Dadan's bandits are based on the ones we see in the anime. Like my Spades pirates, if you like them (as they get developed), feel free to use them. We need more bandit action in this fandom. I've seen lots of Dadan-based fics but not bandit-based. :)


	11. Chapter 11

 

 

* * *

 

_Ten Years Difference - Chapter 11_

* * *

 

 

 

The bandit named Tracks looked more like a bandit then any of them, Ace mused. Dressed in dark brown and green pants that helped him blend into the forest, and a similarly-coloured short-sleeved shirt, with a brown headband covering long brown hair.

 

There was lots of brown. Even his skin was a richly tanned brown that spoke of even more years than Ace had being out in the sun. His cloak was brown with leaves stuck to it – Ace had a passing urge to ask if he had glued them on or what – and dark brown boots that covered his pants to the knee.

 

Dadan chucked another empty bottle over her shoulder, sending a cluster of bandits scurrying out of firing range. “Well?”

 

Tracks nodded his head respectfully at the head of the bandits, which made Ace gape silently. “I found Swipe and we were able to locate Sabo's home. His family name is Outlook; his father runs an import/export business set up in the port. His mother is your typical noble socialite, looking to better their status by marrying their son off to the highest bidder. They have a 'spare' in reserve – apparently when they couldn't find Sabo, they adopted a new son from a lesser noble family. Stelly was apparently in line to marry the princess until Outlook recognized Sabo and arranged for him to be brought home.”

 

“You mean, threatened him until he went back,” Ace muttered spitefully.

 

Tracks shrugged. “Regardless, Sabo is now being kept in the East Wing of their home on the Diamond Thoroughfare, and is only allowed out on supervised walks with Stelly.”

 

“Regular?” Dogra asked.

 

“Morning and afternoon,” Tracks confirmed. “Swipe follows at a distance and has confirmed the two routes they take. Stelly does not have the stamina for longer walks and refuses to let Sabo deviate from them.” He shot Ace an apologetic look. “He uses his father's threat of killing you to keep Sabo in line.”

 

Ace clenched his fists tightly.

 

“There is an additional threat Swipe was able to notify me of,” Tracks continued. “Apparently there is a Celestial Dragon coming for a visit next week, and the nobles wish to put their best foot forward and show them that Goa is indeed the cleanest kingdom in the East. They plan on burning the Grey Terminal.”

 

Ace blinked in shock; Dadan growled and slammed a meaty palm to the ground. “Keep Swipe there,” she snapped. “We'll need more details. But Tracks, take a group – your choice – and go through the terminal, make sure people know to escape to Edge City or along the coast until everything dies down.”

 

“You're gonna help save everyone?” Ace goggled at her.

 

Dadan rolled her eyes. “You think this is the first time they've ever burnt down the Terminal? Granted, last time was about ten or twelve years ago--”

 

“Thirteen, Boss.”

 

“--and that damned Garp was the one who made us act like marines under his control, telling us to guide those losers out. Like we wanted to risk our skins!” Dadan scowled at a random bandit who ran and got her a fresh bottle of rum. “And now we gotta do it again. This is no life for a decent bandit, I swear.”

 

Ace had no response to that.

 

Tracks shrugged. “Anything else?”

 

Dadan was busy guzzling down her new drink. She kicked her foot out and hit Dogra's shin, making the short man jump. “Have Swipe determine the best way to arrange for Sabo's 'death',” he said. “Would be difficult during a walk in broad daylight though. What about his seclusion?”

 

Tracks tilted his head. “It would not be difficult for Sabo to escape,” he said slowly. “The room has several large windows with locks Ace was capable of picking when he was six. The jump to the ground is less then what they do to escape that tree house of theirs.”

 

“It would need to be a quiet escape with a public demise,” Dadan rasped, wiping her forearm over her mouth to mop up the last dregs of rum clinging to her chin. “The best time for a public spectacle would be when the damn Dragon arrives.”

 

Mogra nodded. “It'd be dangerous, but even if we failed, Sabo's parents would disavow any knowledge of him being related to them. They wouldn't want the nobles to know that it was their son disrupting the festivities.”

 

“Talk to Swipe about feasibility,” Dadan ordered Tracks. “And don't forget to warn the losers. If I have to leave my nice, safe mountain because some idiots thought they knew more than I did, I will be chasing them onto the shore myself with my rifle. They will be _wishing_ for the damn fire.”

 

Tracks bowed and left, Dogra once again slipping after him muttering about 'cover' and 'security'. Two other bandits followed as he waved them after him.

 

Ace took a deep breath. “Swipe will find out if Sabo can escape during the Dragon's visit? And if he can, you'll plan some sort of fake death where everyone can see it?”

 

Dadan snorted. “I'll be damned. You might make a decent bandit yet.”

 

“The hell I will. I'm gonna be a pirate.” Ace's eyes flashed with anger for a second, and then he fisted his hands on his thighs. “Thanks, Dadan.”

 

Dadan froze in the middle of raising her rum bottle. “Huh?”

 

“Fucks sakes, not again,” another bandit moaned and chucked an empty bottle at Ace, who dodged with a smirk. “You froze her, you get to reset her!”

 

Ace upped the edge of his smirk. “Like hell.”

 

“Huh?”

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

“ _Why do you keep doing this?” Sabo muttered crossly as he roughly swabbed a cut on Ace's back. A flying bottle had shattered against a table and Ace had rolled across it to escape a drunken punch. The drunk had driven his fist into most of the shards that hadn't attached themselves to Ace as he made his move – thankfully none of the glass had embedded itself into Ace's skin this time. “You're going to get yourself killed. Is that what you want?”_

 

_Ace didn't say anything as he sat there, hunched over, staring blankly at the ground._

 

_Sabo sighed and pressed a plaster against the smaller cut. The other one would be covered with the rest when he wrapped Ace in bandages. “Ace, talk to me?”_

 

_There was silence for another moment, before Ace gave a low, shuddering sigh. “It's not important.”_

 

“ _Obviously it is,” Sabo retorted. “Raise your arms.” Ace obediently lifted his arms, and Sabo began wrapping the bandages around his chest. “Why do you keep going to these places? What are you trying to find out?” He taped the last loop of bandage into place._

 

_Ace shuddered again._

 

_No... Sabo blinked. Ace was.... Ace was trembling. Sabo raised a tentative hand and carefully touched Ace's shoulder – only to freeze as Ace flinched._

 

“ _Ace?”_

 

“ _If I told you, you'd hate me too, just like everyone else does,” Ace rasped, and he looked up at Sabo with such haunted, dead eyes that the blonde took a step back in shock. “But I'm selfish, Sabo.”_

 

“ _S-selfish?” Sabo repeated numbly._

 

_Ace nodded. “I don't want you to hate me too.” His eyes were still flat and dead, and there wasn't even a hint of embarrassment in his tone even though Ace had never been able to say anything remotely nice to him without blushing and getting worked up over it._

 

_Sabo swallowed and crouched down in front of Ace, watching him carefully. “I could never hate you, Ace,” he said slowly, clearly, wanting Ace to hear and understand him. “I know we don't really say it, but we're friends, aren't we? I could never hate my friend.”_

 

_Ace merely blinked at him and then looked at the ground._

 

_Sabo growled and reached out gripping Ace's chin roughly and yanking his head up. “Listen to me, Portgas D Ace!” he snapped. “You are my best friend. You can tell me **anything**. I won't hate you.”_

 

_Ace stared at Sabo, and Sabo waited him out, meeting his gaze firmly. Ace licked his lips once, nerves showing, and then whispered. “....Gol.”_

 

_Sabo frowned. “What?”_

 

“ _.....My name. It's **Gol** D Ace.”_

 

“ _What do you--” And then suddenly Sabo understood._

 

 

* * *

 

 

Across a sea famous for being known as a paradise for those who had escaped the perils of the New World, a flock of crows was flying over the clear blue-green waters. They flew high enough over Sea Kings that occasionally looked up and tried to bite at that only to realize they were out of reach. The inky black shadows spread over the line that divided the Grand Line and the Calm Belt in a seemingly endless cloud of birds.

 

Their rider was stretched out over the largest one who led the flock save for the scouts when he awoke with a gasp and sat up, straddling the feathered neck. “Fuck.”

 

The crow chuckled. “Bad dream?”

 

Outlook Sabo, known as the Blue Gentleman, flexed his gloved hands and gave a small smile. “Bad memory. But it eventually had a happy continuance.”

 

“Not an ending?”

 

“Not anytime soon, if I can help it.” Sabo pushed himself up a bit, settling into a more comfortable seated position, legs crossed. “And I will help it. Whether it wants it or not.”

 

The crow chortled. “Is it still happy?”

 

Sabo smiled and gazed ahead at the red rock wall that signified the Red Line. “I guess we'll find out eventually.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

“My real name is Gol D Ace. My father is... _was_... Gol D Roger.”

 

Ace had hurled those words at Marco, a verbal bomb intended to cause the Phoenix to erupt and explode and prove himself right. It almost worked – kinda.

 

Marco could have erupted all right – but with blatant surprise and curiosity, not anger and hatred.

 

 _...._ _Huh._ The Phoenix inhaled sharply, eyes wide with surprise. Of all the things he thought Ace might reveal to him, this certainly wasn't on his list, and a part of his mind was automatically running dates and numbers in his head against what he knew Ace's age to be while the rest of it kept its attention on the volatile young spitfire in front of him. “You.... you're...”

 

“The son of the Pirate King,” the fire user hissed. “Born with the blood of a demon. A living sin in this world that shouldn't exist.”

 

Marco didn't know what to say to that exactly. Something twinged in his chest at the sight of the despairing young teen so obviously hurting deep inside. _T_ _his_ was what Pops had sensed inside of Ace – this was what he wanted to heal. This was what was screaming so loudly inside the young man, even when his face was a mask of frigid detachment or flaring annoyance – well, with everyone except Luffy, of course. His father must have guessed, maybe had seen a similarity in Ace that he'd seen in Roger, and decided that was reason enough.

 

Marco couldn't argue. Now that he knew, he wanted to help.

 

He watched the kid's chest heave as he contemplated what he'd just learned. He certainly didn't think Ace's blood was any more demonic than his own, but apparently Ace had been told differently – the sheer rage, the desperation in his tone spoke volumes. One didn't have that tone, that feeling of acute desperation and hopelessness, unless you were drowning in it. Unless you were having those words thrown at you; thrown, stomped on and ground in until you couldn't imagine a time when you'd ever been free from them.

 

Marco's mind whirled feverishly as his mind connected a few of the dots that had been dangling in his mind about the kid. His relationship with Luffy suddenly made a lot more sense – obviously, the little boy, having been raised by him, must have been one of the only people in Ace's life to show him unconditional love. His desperation – his willingness to hold back what at times seemed to be a monster temper; his inability to let Luffy out of his sight, even after the Whitebeard's had proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the child was safe with them – losing Luffy would likely all but kill the young man standing in front of him, fists and teeth clenched, eyes narrowed into feral slits.

 

The sight didn't produce fear. Rather, it brought out a protective feeling inside him – similar to what he felt for all his siblings, as well as something a little bit deeper. His brothers were more used to the harsh cruelty of the world. They were older. They had seen more of the world, had seen past its beauty to the horrors that lay speckled within it. They could still be surprised by new horrors, but it took a lot to add to the scars they already bore.

 

But this? This was an agonized, tormented teenagerbarely at the start of his life.

 

It made the Phoenix want to brutally peck out the eyes of everyone who had told the young man that he was a sin upon the earth. “Ace...”

 

“Should never have been born,” Ace continued raspily, head lowered, eyes finally covered, one hand clutching the brim of his hat with white-knuckled fingers. “Should never--”

 

He couldn't listen anymore.

 

“Ace, stop,” Marco commanded softly but with a touch of his commander's tone he tended to use on uncooperative crew mates. The last thing he wanted to do was enforce his will on the younger, especially when he was as vulnerable as he was, but he absolutely would not allow him to say those horrible words again. “Luffy wouldn't like hearing you say that, right? It's okay, yoi...”

 

The fiery teen gave a harsh laugh at that as he slid down the rails to the floor. “... _okay,_ he says...” Marco's own words were uttered in a low and pained voice, hands dropping to his sides, as though he were giving up. Giving up _what_ though, Marco didn't know - nor did he want to.

 

It made Marco's heart _ache_.

 

“It doesn't matter who your father is,” Marco said carefully. Ace was still avoiding his gaze, eyes hidden by the brim of his cowboy hat. His fists were clenched, and his body was shaking. Fear? Marco took another slow step towards the younger man, dropping to one knee to bring him to the younger one's level, attempting to look him in the eye. “Ace is Ace. That's all that matters.”

 

“...... _how_.”

 

Marco froze in place, not wanting to startle the distraught man. “How what, yoi?”

 

Ace lifted his head then, _finally,_ and Marco's heart clenched in his chest at the sheer pain and misery spilling from his eyes. “How can you say it doesn't matter? It _always_ matters!”

 

The youth stood and took a step backward and Marco silently pleaded with him to see he didn't need to run, not from him, raising one hand in silent supplication. As far as Marco and most of the ship was concerned, Ace was already their little brother whether he knew it or not, and Marco would do anything to help family.

 

Surely Ace had to know that, somewhere inside, or else he would have abandoned ship with Luffy in hand weeks ago.

 

Something must have gotten through; Ace stopped after one step. But his shaking grew even more pronounced. “All my life I've heard people curse that man and say that I shouldn't have been born, that I had no right to exist because of what he was!” His right hand slowly lifted and then clutched his left forearm where a faint but jagged scar marred tan flesh. Then his hand travelled to his side where it absently covered another one.

 

Marco swallowed as he realized what Ace was unconsciously doing.

 

All those scars, the faint marks he'd noticed in passing on Ace, the ones Ace always ignored Thatch's questions about – were those scars from people attacking him as a child? A punishment for simply existing - for being the child of Gol D Roger? He'd thought they were scars one would pick up normally through the life a being a pirate but were they....?

 

Marco genuinely believed he could feel his heart breaking. “Ace...”

 

“You can't tell me it doesn't matter,” Ace hissed. Flames erupted around him, wrapping around him like a living cloak. Shouts and murmurs went up around the deck as people noticed the fire and began running towards them. “Can't tell me _that_ when I'd be killed by the Marines for that reason alone, no matter my bounty. Can't tell me _Ace_ matters at all when the son of the devil is the blood they want gone forever.”

 

At the sound of the approaching crew, Ace's eyes widened – in terror, Marco realized in a flash, watching tanned skin pale considerably more. The fire cloak seemed to flash in response, and Marco winced as he felt the heat pick up, brushing against his skin with more force.

 

“Ace!” Luffy had finally noticed both his brother's situation, the fear on Ace's face, and the fire that was starting to spread. He dropped the drumstick he'd been gnawing on, and bounced over the table, neatly avoiding Haruta and Vista's grasping arms with a quick little flip, and easily dodging around and through the legs of anyone who tried to stop him. Mere seconds later, he was barrelling into his sibling's arms, wrapping his own around Ace three times over for good measure.

 

Ace was only able to raise his forearms, but he did so, and leaned his head down to press his forehead against his baby brother's. His fire spit and crackled but didn't burn the younger boy, who had shown no fear, absolutely no trace of hesitation when he'd jumped at the living fire that was Portgas D Ace.

 

The force he'd felt moments ago seemed to fade a bit, and Marco felt his own powers - that had been lingering just under his skin, eager to be let out to heal whatever damage Marco had been dealt - fade away.

 

Stepping back to give them a bit more breathing room, Marco turned and glared at the crew members sidling their way, trying to see what was going on. He met their eyes plainly and raised his voice. “Everyone who is not me, Luffy or Ace – _get._ _ **LOST.**_ _”_

 

He didn't use that tone with his brothers and sisters very often, so it was a good thing they obeyed it when he did. The majority instantly reversed course and headed back to the tables they had abandoned. Vista hesitated a moment before shrugging and going back to the party that was still in full swing, leading an obviously reluctant Haruta as he did so.

 

Izou shrugged and turned his back to stare out at the sea. It was obvious that while he would not step in, he wasn't about to leave Marco alone with a potentially volatile situation. A few metres away, Jozu did the same thing, turning to stare at the ocean, leaving his hands folded behind him as neatly as a Marine in standard parade rest. The remaining commanders shot Marco concerned looks but ultimately followed his order.

 

Across the wide expanse of the deck, Whitebeard was watching. He hadn't even made a move to stand up. He obviously was not concerned about Ace's behaviour. Marco met his father's eyes, and Whitebeard nodded – and then winked, before raising his ever-present sake jug to his lips. Had his father already known about Ace's secret?

 

Marco turned back to Ace. The fire was still flickering around him but Marco saw that the fire wasn't burning the wood of the deck they were standing on, nor was it hurting the delicate skin of the young child still wrapped around the young man.

 

The fire was not being aggressive. It was being _protective_. Ace was trying to protect himself. Whether he knew it or not was another thing altogether, but Marco breathed an inner sigh of relief.

 

An aggressive fire-user on a wooden ship was a dangerous thing, and while Marco desperately wanted to help what he knew and believed would be his newest sibling, he had to take into account the lives of everyone else on board the ship as well. He had already shown the dangerous power of his flames back when he'd been barely lucid and under the impression that Luffy had been taken from him. But, as long as Ace could keep this confined, Marco could continue to take this step by step. Luffy still wasn't flinching, so the heat obviously wasn't there anymore.

 

“No one here is going to hurt you, yoi,” he said softly, keeping his hands out where Ace could see them. “Even if you don't see yourself as one of us yet, at the very least you are a guest on our ship. You are safe here, I promise.”

 

Ace's eyes flickered around the deck, like he didn't believe Marco's words could be true and at any moment someone would spring forward in an attempt to knock him overboard. His grip on Luffy tightened but the rubber boy didn't even flinch. “It's _never_ safe,” he growled through the flames still keeping a barrier between himself and the first commander. “I've learned that the hard way.”

 

Marco nodded slowly. “You're right. Your secret is not safe for you, and it _does_ matter. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that when I meant it an entirely different way.”

 

And he did. He meant it completely when he said it didn't matter – to _him_. To _Oyaji._ To the _Whitebeard family_. And of course, to the Spade crew as well. Their over-protectiveness was suddenly making a hell of a lot more sense now.

 

But to the marines, to the world, to Ace himself? It very much _did_ matter and Marco was now mentally kicking himself for saying those words to what he now saw behind the anger and the hostility to be a traumatized and terrified teenager whose only survival in this life must have been due to secrecy, hiding and pain, leaving him with a huge fucking case full of abandonment and abuse issues, if those marks and his mental state were any indication of how he'd grown up.

 

Based on their ages and what Ace had reluctantly informed him of, Marco knew Ace hadn't found Luffy until he was ten. How badly had his formative years been if this was the result? If the only person the teenager could be comforted by or even trust was a decade younger than him?

 

Ace's fire dimmed slightly as the young man apparently took in his words and processed them as being a positive thing. His eyes were still dark and suspicious, but the trembling that had been running though his lean frame the moment Marco had thoughtlessly spoken was dying down. His hand, still alternately gripping and rubbing the various marks on his skin underneath Luffy's rubbery grasp, fell to his side.

 

Marco let out a slow breath. The kid was finally calming down. Now, if he could just keep him that way. “Can I try this again?”

 

Ace stared at him warily for a long moment; silver eyes narrowed and still flicking to Jozu – who hadn't moved – and to where other members of the Moby Dick were no doubt waiting behind cabins and walls, waiting to see if they needed to rush to their commander's aid.

 

Marco was tempted to roll his eyes at the thought but that would mean moving his gaze from Ace's. After another long minute, Ace slowly nodded. His fires began to ebb out, lowering themselves until they vanished into puffs of smoke against the deck. Luffy was still clutching Ace tight, but his eyes were slitted, narrowed in on Marco with a warning not to harm his precious older brother.

 

Marco smiled. “Thank you. I'm sorry for this, Ace. This wasn't what I intended, believe it or not.”

 

A minute, and then the fiery teen reluctantly snorted. There was amusement there, Marco was happy to detect. Trace amounts to be sure, and mixed in with a fair amount of scepticism, but still there. “I guess I can believe that,” was the wary response.

 

Marco breathed a sigh of relief, and his smile grew.

 

Now was the time to really get to know Portgas D Ace.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

_to be continued_

 

 

Yeah, so, there ya go. That should hold you for a bit. This took a while to get out because I had to plan it out and make sure it meshed with what I originally wanted to do. Which you'll find out about eventually.

 

So yeah, feedback be the source of life and I could desperately use a little bit of extra life. Please?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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